DUST vs SVXY

DUSTCDirexion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X ETF

SVXYBProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF

In short

DUST The gold-miner short, in one ticker. Running since 2010, DUST aims for 200% of the inverse of the daily move in global gold miners, then resets at the bell. Direxion dialed the target back from 3x to 2x in 2020.

SVXY Short volatility, half dose. SVXY targets one-half the inverse of a VIX short-term futures index each day, a deliberately de-tuned take on the short-vol trade, and it has run that mandate since 2011.

Stated mandate

DUST The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to 200% of the inverse performance of the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index. The issuer states that achieving this objective is not guaranteed.

SVXY SVXY seeks daily results equal to one-half the inverse of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index. Its objective is measured daily, so returns over longer periods can differ from the stated daily target.

Why people hold it

• DUST A bearish miner view without borrowing shares: one ticker aims for 200% of the inverse of the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index each trading day.direxion.com
• Listed since 2010 and actively traded, which is what a one-session trading tool needs most: a market you can get into and out of.
• At 0.94%, the fee lands near the category median for geared funds, and a shade under the 0.95% net that PSQ charges (net of a waiver through September 30, 2027).
• Direxion reset the target from 3x to 2x in 2020, so each day's miner move is magnified less than it was in the fund's first decade.sec.govsec.gov 2

• SVXY The half-strength design is the whole idea: a -0.5x daily target rather than full inverse, so a jump in VIX futures lands with half the force of a one-for-one short.proshares.com
• 0.95% a year sits below the typical leveraged and inverse fund, and among that crowd this is one of the stronger implementations in its peer group.
• Launched in 2011 and actively traded, so it has a long operating history and a working market for getting in and out.

Worth knowing

• DUST Built for a day. Hold longer and your result is each day's compounded return, which the prospectus says will very likely differ from -200% of the index over that span.sec.gov
• Mining stocks move hard on their own. Doubling and flipping that daily move puts DUST at the high-risk end of its category, and Direxion notes the fund may not achieve its objective.direxion.com
• Distributions land quarterly, but income is not the mechanism here; the stated job is the inverse daily move, not a yield stream.

• SVXY The objective resets daily. Hold longer and compounding takes over, so results over weeks or months can look nothing like half the inverse of the index.proshares.com
• It is a commodity pool holding VIX futures, not a basket of stocks. Reporting and tax treatment follow different rules than a standard equity ETF.proshares.com
• Pure price vehicle with no distribution stream, and volatility spikes arrive fast, which is exactly what a short-vol position is on the wrong side of.

Full DUST profile⁠

Full SVXY profile⁠