SQQQ vs WEBS

SQQQAProShares UltraPro Short QQQ

WEBSFDirexion Daily Dow Jones Internet Bear 3X ETF

In short

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.

WEBS Most triple-inverse ETFs short the whole market. WEBS aims at 3x the inverse of one day's move in a 40-stock Dow Jones internet index, at 1.07% net of a waiver through September 1, 2027.

Stated mandate

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.

WEBS The fund seeks daily investment results equal to 300% of the inverse performance of the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index, before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• 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

• WEBS Targets 3x the inverse of one day's move in the Dow Jones Internet Composite: 40 big US internet names, not the broad benchmarks most bears in this group short.spindices.com
• Exposure resets daily, so each session starts back near the stated 3x inverse rather than drifting with an aging position.
• Trading since 2019, from Direxion, which also runs other triple-inverse funds in this category including TZA and SOXS.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• WEBS The 3x target applies to one day. Over longer holds, daily compounding in a choppy index can push results far from 3x the index move, in either direction.
• 1.07% net of a waiver through September 1, 2027 (1.23% gross): above SQQQ's 0.94% and SRTY's 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027, but near the category median.
• Sits at the smaller, moderately traded end of its 14-fund category, so spreads and order size matter more here than with the headline index bears.

Full SQQQ profile⁠

Full WEBS profile⁠