SDD vs SVXY

SDDDProShares UltraShort SmallCap600

SVXYBProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF

In short

SDD The only double-short on the S&P SmallCap 600, the small-cap index with an earnings screen. SDD targets -2x the index's move each trading day, reset daily, for 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.

SVXY Short volatility, half dose. SVXY targets one-half the inverse of a VIX short-term futures index each day, a deliberately de-tuned take on the short-vol trade, and it has run that mandate since 2011.

Stated mandate

SDD SDD seeks daily investment results corresponding to twice the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P SmallCap 600.

SVXY SVXY seeks daily results equal to one-half the inverse of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index. Its objective is measured daily, so returns over longer periods can differ from the stated daily target.

Why people hold it

• SDD ProShares calls it the only -2x ETF built on the S&P SmallCap 600, an index that screens new members for positive earnings. A short on profitable small caps, not the whole small-cap pond.proshares.comspglobal.com
• Fee sits near the category median: 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027, against a 5.52% gross ratio. The waiver is doing real work here.
• Trading since January 2007, so the mechanics have run through multiple small-cap drawdowns and recoveries rather than one市 cycle.

• SVXY The half-strength design is the whole idea: a -0.5x daily target rather than full inverse, so a jump in VIX futures lands with half the force of a one-for-one short.proshares.com
• 0.95% a year sits below the typical leveraged and inverse fund, and among that crowd this is one of the stronger implementations in its peer group.
• Launched in 2011 and actively traded, so it has a long operating history and a working market for getting in and out.

Worth knowing

• SDD The -2x objective applies to a single day, NAV to NAV. Hold longer and compounding can pull results away from -2x the index move over that stretch, most of all in choppy tape.proshares.com
• One of the smaller and less-traded funds in its category, which tends to mean wider spreads. Limit orders are the norm for this kind of exposure.
• Sits in the bottom quartile of our leveraged-and-inverse review. SBB shorts the same index at one times, also 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.

• SVXY The objective resets daily. Hold longer and compounding takes over, so results over weeks or months can look nothing like half the inverse of the index.proshares.com
• It is a commodity pool holding VIX futures, not a basket of stocks. Reporting and tax treatment follow different rules than a standard equity ETF.proshares.com
• Pure price vehicle with no distribution stream, and volatility spikes arrive fast, which is exactly what a short-vol position is on the wrong side of.

Full SDD profile⁠

Full SVXY profile⁠