ProShares Debuts Series of 3x Leveraged ETFs   
February 12, 2010

SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) – ProFunds Group has just introduced eight new ProShares ETFs that employ high octane leverage.

The funds will utilize triple daily long and short (inverse) strategies on the NASDAQ-100 (NasdaqGM: QQQQ), Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEArca: DIA), S&P MidCap 400 (NYSEArca: MDY) and Russell 2000 (NYSEArca: IWM). Since mid-2009 the company has managed the UltraPro S&P 500 (NYSEArca: UPRO) and the UltraPro Short S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPXU) which attempt to triple the daily long and short performance on the S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY).

Even with this latest launch, the ProShares lineup still mostly consists of long and short ETFs that use two times daily leverage. DirexionShares, a Boston, MA-based investment manager, oversees $4.8 billion in long and short daily triple leveraged ETFs.

Leverage refers to an investment strategy that attempts to achieve magnified gains. For example, if the NASDAQ-100 falls by 1% on a given day, a triple inverse focused ETF like SQQQ should rise by 3%. Conversely, if the NASDAQ-100 rises by 1%, SQQQ should fall by 3%.

"Many savvy investors believe that taking advantage of tactical allocation opportunities will be the key to successful investing in the near term. These new ETFs provide knowledgeable investors with additional tools to act on short-term moves in popular U.S. indexes," said Michael L. Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, ProShares' investment advisor.

All of the leveraged funds charge annual expenses of 0.95% and with around $25 billion in assets ProShares is the fifth largest U.S. ETF provider.

Here’s a listing of the eight newly listed ProShares ETFs:

3x Long Daily Leverage
UltraPro QQQ (NasdaqGM: TQQQ)
UltraPro Dow 30 (NYSEArca: UDOW)
UltraPro MidCap 400 (NYSEArca: UMDD)
UltraPro Russell 2000 (NYSEArca: URTY)

3x Short Daily Leverage
UltraPro Short QQQ (NasdaqGM: SQQQ)
UltraPro Short Dow 30 (NYSEArca: SDOW)
UltraPro Short Mid Cap 400 (NYSEArca: SMDD)
UltraPro Short Russell 2000 (NYSEArca: SRTY)

Other New ETF Launches
Old Mutual Global Index Trackers, a South Africa based fund manager has just debuted its second U.S. listed ETF, the GlobalShares FTSE Developed Countries ex-US Fund (NYSEArca: GSD).
 
GSD offers market exposure to 23 developed countries, including Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Germany without overlapping their US stock portfolios. The is benchmarked to the FTSE Developed ex-US Index, which is comprised of over 1,400 stocks.

According the company’s Website, GSD’s annual net expense ratio after fee waivers is 0.35%.