AIBD vs QTUM

AIBDFDirexion Daily AI and Big Data Bear 2X ETF

QTUMADefiance Quantum ETF

In short

AIBD Everyone else on the AI shelf is long. AIBD takes the other side, aiming for 200% of the inverse of a US AI and big data index for a single trading day. A trading tool with a one-day shelf life, not a set-and-forget short.

QTUM Live since 2018, QTUM turns the quantum-computing story into a plain index fund: about 90 global names spanning quantum hardware and machine learning, for 0.40% a year.

Stated mandate

AIBD The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to 200% of the inverse of the Solactive US AI & Big Data Index’s daily performance. It is designed for a single trading day rather than for achieving that multiple over longer periods.

QTUM The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the BlueStar® Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index. It uses a passive indexing approach.

Why people hold it

• AIBD The rare bear in an aisle stacked with bulls. It aims for 200% of the inverse of the Solactive US AI & Big Data Index's daily move, in an ordinary ETF wrapper.direxion.com
• Direxion waives a big slice of the running cost: 1.05% net of a waiver through September 1, 2027, against a 2.64% gross ratio.
• The short is aimed, not scattershot. The index behind it is a concentrated group of US software, semiconductor and internet names rather than the whole market.sec.govsec.gov 2

• QTUM 0.40% a year against a 0.68% median for its AI-theme cohort, and it undercuts peers like WTAI (0.45%) and ALAI (0.55%).
• Rules-based by design: it tracks the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index, so no manager is hand-picking which quantum story wins.
• About 90 holdings across global markets, so the theme rides on a basket instead of two or three pure plays.
• Size and liquidity back it up: a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and one of the stronger implementations in its thematic peer group.

Worth knowing

• AIBD Returns reset daily. Over weeks, compounding takes over and results can land far from twice the index's inverse move for that stretch, in either direction.sec.gov
• Its fee runs above what AI funds typically charge (long-only peers XAIX at 0.35%, ARTY at 0.47%), and the fund is thinly traded, so spreads and limit orders matter.
• Exposure comes largely from total return swaps rather than actual short sales, which brings counterparty exposure and financing costs into the picture.sec.govsec.gov 2

• QTUM Risk is the softest part of the profile. One narrow, early-stage theme in a single asset class means sharper swings than a broad-market fund.
• The index covers machine learning as well as quantum, so part of the basket is familiar AI exposure rather than quantum specialists.
• Distributions come quarterly, but a growth theme like this is not built around income.

Full AIBD profile⁠

Full QTUM profile⁠