ProShares Adds 2 Leveraged Financial Services ETFs

ProShares, the largest issuer of inverse and leveraged ETFs, is issuing a challenge to rival Direxion today with the introduction of two new triple-leveraged ETFs tracking the financial services sector. The new ProShares funds are the ProShares UltraPro Financial ETF FINU and the ProShares UltraPro Short Financials ETF FINZ. Each fund features an annual expense ratio of 0.95 percent. The ProShares UltraPro Financials ETF is designed to three times the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. FINZ is designed to deliver three times the daily inverse performance of that index. The The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Sector Index Fund IYF is the non-leveraged ETF that tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. ProShares, the sixth-largest ETF issuer, already sponsors the ProShares Short Financials SEF, the ProShares UltraShort Financials SKF and the ProShares Ultra Financials UYG, all of which track the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. SKY and UYG are double-leveraged products. However, the introduction of FINU and FINZ puts ProShares in direct competition with Direxion in the triple-leveraged financial services space. The Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares FAZ and the Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares FAS are two of the most heavily traded leveraged ETFs and have dominated the triple-leveraged financial services ETF space. FAS and FAZ track the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index. Each fund charges 0.95 percent per year. ProShares had 134 ETFs with $22.2 billion in assets under management at the end of June, according to ETF Industry Association data.