ProShares Launches First Geared VIX Futures ETFs
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Bethesda, MD, October 4, 2011—ProShares, a premier provider of alternative exchange traded funds (ETFs), including the only VIX futures ETFs in the United States, today announced the expansion of its lineup with the launch of the first ETFs in the United States designed to provide magnified or inverse exposure to VIX futures.
The ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSE: UVXY) seeks to provide 2x the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, before fees and expenses. The ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSE: SVXY) seeks to provide -1x the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, before fees and expenses. The ETFs list on NYSE Arca today.
"Many investors are focused on volatility of the equity markets and are interested in tools that could help manage or incorporate volatility in sophisticated portfolios," said Michael L. Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Capital Management, the sponsor of the funds. "Now, with our introduction of these new ProShares, investors for the first time can get leveraged or inverse exposure to VIX futures with an exchange traded fund."
Since the financial crisis, there has been heightened attention on equity market volatility. ProShares introduced the nation’s first two VIX futures ETFs in early 2011. Today’s launch expands the firm’s lineup of the nation’s only VIX futures ETFs to four, providing investors a suite of tools to help manage risk or to act on views on volatility.
| ProShares | Ticker Symbol | Index/Benchmark | Daily Objective |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Volatility ETFs | |||
| Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures | UVXY | S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures | 2x |
| Short VIX Short-Term Futures | SVXY | S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures | -1x |
| Existing Volatility ETFs | |||
| VIX Short-Term Futures | VIXY | S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures | 1x |
| VIX Mid-Term Futures | VIXM | S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures | 1x |
About ProShares
ProShares is a premier provider of alternative ETFs, with 124 funds and more than $26 billion in assets. ProShares is the largest provider of geared (leveraged or inverse) ETFs.1 ProShares is part of ProFunds Group®, which was founded in 1997 and includes nearly $30 billion in mutual fund and ETF assets.2
About VIX and VIX Futures Indexes
The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) is a widely followed measure of the expected volatility of the S&P 500. Since the VIX is not directly investable, S&P 500 volatility exposure is often achieved through VIX futures. Each of the VIX futures indexes measures the movements of a combination of VIX futures and is designed to track changes in the expectation for VIX over a specific time window in the future. As a result, the VIX futures indexes, and UVXY, SVXY, VIXY and VIXM, can be expected to perform differently than the VIX. The S&P 500 VIX Short-Term FuturesTM Index, targets a constant, weighted-average term of one month. The S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term FuturesTM Index, targets a constant, weighted-average term of five months.
Media contact:
Tucker Hewes, Hewes Communications, Inc., 212-207-9451, tucker@hewescomm.com
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Short or Ultra ProShares ETFs seek returns that are 3x, 2x, -1x, -2x or -3x the return of an index or other benchmark (target) for a single day, as measured from one NAV calculation to the next. Due to the compounding of daily returns, ProShares' returns over periods other than one day will likely differ in amount and possibly direction from the target return for the same period. Investors should monitor their holdings consistent with their strategies, as frequently as daily. For more on correlation and other risks, please read the prospectus.
Investor contact:
ProShares, 866-776-5125, proshares.com
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Oct 4, 20111 Source: Lipper, based on a worldwide analysis of all of the known providers of funds in these categories. The analysis covered ETFs and ETNs by the number of funds and assets (as of 6/30/2011).
2 Assets as of 8/31/2011.