LTL vs UYG

LTLCProShares Ultra Communication Services

UYGAProShares Ultra Financials

In short

LTL The only ETF targeting 2x the daily move of the Communication Services sector, and older than the sector itself: it launched in 2008 as a telecom fund, a decade before GICS redrew the lines to pull in media and internet names.

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

LTL The fund targets twice the daily performance of the Communication Services sector.

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

• LTL ProShares calls it the only ETF targeting 2x the daily return of the communication services sector, so this slice of geared sector exposure has no direct in-category rival.proshares.com
• 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (1.83% gross), near the median of 97 funds in its category and in line with ProShares siblings DDM at 0.95% and ROM at 0.93%.
• Trading since March 2008, it rode out the 2018 sector overhaul and sits in the stronger end of the leveraged bull funds we grade.sec.gov

• 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

• LTL The 2x target applies to one day. ProShares says compounding can make longer-period returns differ in amount and even direction, and to monitor holdings as often as daily.sec.gov
• One of the smaller, less-traded funds in its category, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the headline leveraged names.
• Around two dozen stocks, all drawn from the S&P 500's communication services roster, so this is concentrated sector exposure by construction.sec.gov

• 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 LTL profile⁠

Full UYG profile⁠