MZZ vs RWM

MZZCProShares UltraShort MidCap400

RWMBProShares Short Russell2000

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.

RWM Short small caps at one speed: RWM targets the inverse of the Russell 2000's daily move, with no 2x or 3x multiplier on top. Trading since 2007, at 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.

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.

RWM The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to the inverse of the Russell 2000 Index's daily performance.

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.

• RWM Straight -1x, not a multiplier: it tracks the inverse of the Russell 2000's daily move, where stablemate TWM targets -2x on the same index.proshares.com
• ProShares calls it the only -1x ETF tied to the Russell 2000, the index of the 2,000 smallest US names in the Russell 3000.proshares.comproshares.com 2
• Trading since January 2007 and one of the busier funds in the inverse-equity aisle, so entering and exiting is rarely the hard part.
• Fee is 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (1.05% gross), near what this category charges, and it rates among the strongest builds in its peer group.

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.

• RWM The -1x target resets daily. Hold longer and compounding rules: ProShares says multi-day returns can differ significantly from the target, in amount and even direction.proshares.comproshares.com 2
• Symmetric by design: on days the Russell 2000 climbs, the fund is built to lose roughly as much as the index gains.proshares.com
• Fund documents tell investors to monitor holdings as frequently as daily, which puts this at the hands-on end of the shelf.proshares.com

Full MZZ profile⁠

Full RWM profile⁠