FAS vs UDOW

FASADirexion Daily Financial Bull 3X ETF

UDOWAProShares UltraPro Dow30

In short

FAS Born in November 2008 with the banking system on fire, FAS aims to deliver three times the daily move of the Financial Select Sector Index. A one-day tool on roughly 80 financial stocks, built around a single-day objective.

UDOW The only 3x daily play on the Dow: 30 blue-chip names, price-weighted, reset every session. It is the industrial cousin of the semis-and-Nasdaq crowd that fills the leveraged aisle, and it has run since 2010.

Stated mandate

FAS The fund seeks a daily return equal to three times the performance of the Financial Select Sector Index, before fees and expenses. It is designed for a single-day objective rather than a multiple of the index’s cumulative return over longer periods.

UDOW The Fund seeks daily results equal to three times the daily performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average before fees and expenses. It uses equity securities, derivatives, and money-market instruments to pursue that daily leveraged exposure.

Why people hold it

• FAS Launched in November 2008, into the crisis itself, and still one of the strongest implementations in its 3x peer group.
• Costs 0.88% net of a waiver through September 1, 2027 (0.92% gross), below the median for 3x leveraged funds.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades steadily, so the leverage arrives in a reasonably liquid wrapper.
• Straightforward plumbing: 3x the daily move of one named large-cap financials index, about 80 stocks, no stock-picking overlay.

• UDOW ProShares calls UDOW the only ETF targeting 3x the daily move of the Dow. In a 3x aisle crowded with semiconductor and Nasdaq bets, the blue-chip index has exactly one lever.proshares.com
• The Dow is a price-weighted measure of 30 US blue chips, so the exposure leans industrials, financials and health care instead of megacap tech.spglobal.com
• Trading since 2010, it has run through several full market cycles and stays actively traded, which matters when the holding period is hours rather than years.
• Among the stronger implementations in its 3x bull peer group, it stays close to its stated daily target and trades with the depth short-horizon traders look for.

Worth knowing

• FAS The 3x goal resets every day. Hold longer and compounding can push results away from three times the index's move over that stretch, especially in choppy markets.
• Leverage runs both directions: down days are magnified just as sharply, and this is one sector in one direction with no diversification cushion.
• Not the cheapest 3x on the shelf: SOXL runs 0.75% and TQQQ 0.78%, each net of waivers through September 1, 2027 and September 30, 2027.

• UDOW The 3x target resets every day. Over longer stretches, compounding and volatility can push results away from 3x the index move, as the prospectus spells out.proshares.com
• At 0.94% with no waiver propping it up, cost sits near the typical 3x bull fund; TQQQ charges 0.78% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.
• Exposure is built with derivatives and cash instruments alongside stocks, so counterparty and derivative risk ride along with the market call.proshares.com

Full FAS profile⁠

Full UDOW profile⁠