SMDD vs SQQQ

SMDDCProShares UltraPro Short MidCap400

SQQQAProShares UltraPro Short QQQ

In short

SMDD The 3x bear trade on the market's forgotten middle. SMDD aims to deliver three times the inverse of the S&P MidCap 400's daily move, at 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027, and no peer in its category points at the same index.

SQQQ The workhorse of the short-Nasdaq trade. Running since 2010, it aims at three times the inverse of the Nasdaq-100's daily move, resets every session, and charges 0.94% a year, below the going rate in the 3x bear category.

Stated mandate

SMDD The fund seeks inverse daily exposure equal to three times the daily decline of the S&P MidCap 400.

SQQQ The fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to three times the inverse of the Nasdaq-100 Index’s daily performance.

Why people hold it

• SMDD The only 3x bear fund in its category aimed at the S&P MidCap 400. Everyone else crowds the Nasdaq-100, the Dow and small caps.
• 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027: below the category median, and under TZA (0.99%) and SOXS (1.00%).
• The objective is a single day, NAV to NAV. The fund stays fully invested in instruments giving inverse leveraged exposure and rebalances daily.proshares.com
• Running since 2010, which makes it one of the longer-tenured geared bear funds still trading.

• SQQQ 0.94% a year with no waiver propping it up, and below what 3x bear peers charge: SDOW and SRTY each sit at 0.95% net of waivers through September 30, 2027.
• One of the most actively traded funds in its category, with a billion-dollar-plus asset base behind it. Depth is the reason traders reach for this one.
• ProShares has run this single-day mandate since February 2010, and it tracks its stated -3x daily target about as closely as anything in its peer group.proshares.com
• The mandate is blunt and public: three times the inverse of the Nasdaq-100's daily performance, before fees, measured NAV to NAV. No discretion, no stock picking.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• SMDD Hold past one day and compounding takes over: results can differ from three times the index move over that stretch. ProShares tells holders to monitor as often as daily.proshares.com
• A small fund and thinly traded, so spreads can bite on a position where entry and exit timing is the whole trade.
• The gross expense ratio is 4.27%. The 0.95% you pay rests on a waiver that runs to September 30, 2027.

• SQQQ Returns compound daily. Over any period longer than a single day, results will very likely differ from -3x the index, and the fund can lose money when the index is flat.sec.gov
• It holds swaps and futures on the index, not shorted stocks, so counterparty exposure and financing costs ride along with the price.sec.gov
• At 0.94%, the fee is heavy freight for a vehicle built around single-day results. Distributions, when declared, come quarterly.

Full SMDD profile⁠

Full SQQQ profile⁠