AGQ vs UYG

AGQCProShares Ultra Silver

UYGAProShares Ultra Financials

In short

AGQ Silver with the volume turned up. Since 2008, AGQ has aimed to double silver's daily move using futures and swaps instead of bullion, and ProShares bills it as the only ETF built on 2x the Bloomberg Silver Subindex.

UYG Listed in January 2007, a year before the banking crash, UYG targets 2x the daily move of the financial stocks in the S&P 500. A veteran of the leveraged shelf, priced at 0.93% with no fee waiver propping that number up.

Stated mandate

AGQ The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, corresponding to twice the daily performance of the Bloomberg Silver Subindex. It obtains this exposure through futures and swaps rather than directly holding silver.

UYG UYG seeks pre-expense daily results equal to 2x the daily performance of the S&P Financial Select Sector Index. It is designed to provide magnified financials-sector exposure on a daily basis.

Why people hold it

• AGQ ProShares bills it as the only ETF targeting 2x the daily move of the Bloomberg Silver Subindex, a mandate it has run since December 2008.proshares.com
• Fees run 0.95% a year, below the median for leveraged funds, which is notable for a strategy built on futures and swaps.
• Actively traded, which matters for a tool designed to be used day by day rather than parked.
• Sits among the stronger implementations in a crowded leveraged-bull field.

• UYG One of the originals: on the tape since January 30, 2007, still running the same mandate of 2x the daily performance of the S&P Financial Select Sector Index.proshares.com
• At 0.93% with no waiver doing the work, it sits near the median fee of its leveraged peer group and level with sibling ROM (0.93%). QLD is 0.89%, but net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.
• The whole sector in one ticker: banks, insurers and capital-markets firms from the S&P 500, roughly 80 names, geared daily.proshares.com
• Stands in the top tier of the leveraged bull funds we grade, a group of close to a hundred tickers.

Worth knowing

• AGQ The 2x target resets each day, so multi-day results can drift well away from twice silver's move, and choppy stretches chew value even if silver ends flat.proshares.com
• It is a commodity pool, not a 1940 Act fund, so shareholders get a Schedule K-1 at tax time instead of a 1099.proshares.com
• Exposure comes from silver futures and swaps, not metal in a vault, and the fund is not built to pay income.

• UYG The 2x target is a one-day target and resets each day. Over longer holds the result comes from compounding daily moves, and in choppy markets that can land well off twice the index's return for the period.proshares.com
• One sector, doubled. Financials move with rates, credit conditions and deal flow, and UYG amplifies that daily swing in both directions.
• It changes hands less than the headline leveraged funds, so the spread is worth a look before you place an order.

Full AGQ profile⁠

Full UYG profile⁠