EZJ vs UYG

EZJDProShares Ultra MSCI Japan

UYGAProShares Ultra Financials

In short

EZJ The only US ETF built to track twice the MSCI Japan Index's daily move, listed since 2009. A daily-reset trade on Japan's large and mid caps, engineered for day-length holding periods.

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

EZJ The fund seeks magnified positive daily exposure to the MSCI Japan Index, targeting twice the index's daily return before fees and expenses.

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

• EZJ ProShares states EZJ is the only ETF targeting 2x the daily return of the MSCI Japan Index, so there's no cheaper clone sitting next to it on the shelf.proshares.com
• The index underneath is Japan's blue-chip core: MSCI's large and mid cap benchmark, covering roughly 85% of the market's free float. Not a narrow sector slice.msci.com
• Listed in 2009, a long tenure for a leveraged fund, and run by a shop whose whole business is leveraged and inverse products.proshares.com
• Gets its 2x through swaps and futures, so the magnified exposure arrives without you running a margin account.proshares.comproshares.com 2

• 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

• EZJ 1.18% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (2.46% gross), above the category median and above peers like QLD at 0.89%, itself net of a waiver through that date.
• The 2x target resets daily. Over longer stretches, returns compound off each day's new base and can land well above or below 2x the index, especially after choppy markets.proshares.com
• A small fund that trades thinly, so spreads can run wider than on headline leveraged ETFs. Yen moves against the dollar also ride along inside the index's dollar return.proshares.com

• 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 EZJ profile⁠

Full UYG profile⁠