MZZ vs PSQ

MZZCProShares UltraShort MidCap400

PSQBProShares Short QQQ

In short

MZZ A 2006-vintage bear trade on mid-cap America: MZZ aims to deliver two times the inverse of the S&P MidCap 400's daily move, one trading day at a time, while most inverse funds point at the big large-cap indexes.

PSQ The plain short on the Nasdaq-100: PSQ aims for -1x the index's daily move, with no leverage multiplier bolted on. It has been running since 2006, making it one of the original one-for-one bear tools.

Stated mandate

MZZ The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to two times the inverse of the S&P MidCap 400's daily performance.

PSQ The fund is designed to provide -1x exposure to the Nasdaq-100 Index's daily price movement, seeking to benefit when that index declines.

Why people hold it

• MZZ Most inverse funds aim at the S&P 500, the Dow or the Nasdaq-100. This one targets the S&P MidCap 400, a benchmark built to measure 400 mid-sized US companies.spglobal.com
• Launched in 2006, part of the original ProShares leveraged and inverse lineup, and still running the same daily -2x mandate nearly two decades later.
• Sibling MYY tracks the same index at -1x; MZZ doubles the daily dose for the same 0.95% net fee (waived through September 30, 2027 in both cases).
• At 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027, the fee sits near the median for leveraged and inverse funds, in line with ProShares stablemates like PSQ and RWM at 0.95% net.

• PSQ ProShares bills it as the only -1x ETF built to profit when the Nasdaq-100's daily price falls. Sibling QID doubles the dose at -2x; PSQ stays one-for-one.proshares.com
• 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (0.96% gross), near the category median and the same net fee as -2x QID, also waived through September 30, 2027.
• Among the most actively traded funds in the bear category, and one of the closest to its stated daily target in a peer group of 50-plus funds.

Worth knowing

• MZZ Exposure resets daily. Held longer, each day's return compounds, and ProShares' own filings say results over longer periods are unlikely to be a simple -2x of the index.sec.gov
• That 0.95% is net of a waiver through September 30, 2027; the gross ratio is 9.03%, so the waiver, not scale, is doing the heavy lifting on cost.
• One of the smaller and more thinly traded names in the lineup, so spreads and order type matter more here than with the headline inverse funds.

• PSQ The -1x goal resets daily. Over weeks or months, compounding means results can differ from -1x the index's move across that stretch, especially in choppy markets.sec.gov
• Cheap for this corner of the market, pricey next to a broad index fund. The fee accrues every day you hold it, hedge or trade.
• It cuts one way: when the Nasdaq-100 rises on the day, PSQ is designed to fall roughly in step.

Full MZZ profile⁠

Full PSQ profile⁠