TQQQ vs URTY

TQQQAProShares UltraPro QQQ

URTYBProShares UltraPro Russell2000

In short

TQQQ The original 3x Nasdaq-100 trade, live since 2010. Leverage resets every day, chasing three times the index's one-day move, and it is one of the most heavily traded names in its corner of the market.

URTY The quieter way to put 3x daily torque on the Russell 2000. ProShares has run URTY since 2010 at 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027, under the fee on the better-known 3x small-cap rival.

Stated mandate

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

URTY URTY seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, corresponding to three times the daily performance of the Russell 2000 Index. Because the objective is daily, returns over periods longer than one day may differ materially from the target.

Why people hold it

• TQQQ Costs 0.78% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (0.94% gross), below the median fee for 3x bull funds and below stablemate UDOW at 0.94% with no waiver.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the busiest tickers in the leveraged space, which matters when a daily-reset position needs to be entered or exited quickly.
• Delivers its stated 3x daily target with close day-to-day fidelity, one of the stronger implementations among 3x bull funds.proshares.com
• Straightforward plumbing: it rebalances exposure to the Nasdaq-100 each day, raising it as the index rises and cutting it as the index falls.sec.gov

• URTY The mandate is literal: three times the Russell 2000's daily move, before fees, reset every evening. No forecast, no discretion, one trading day at a time.proshares.com
• 0.95% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (1.13% gross), near the norm for 3x bull funds and under TNA, whose 1.05% is itself waived through September 1, 2027.
• Running since 2010, it has stayed close to its stated daily multiple and stands in the upper half of the 3x long funds we grade.
• The reference exposure is roughly 2,000 US small caps, not a handful of names, and the fund distributes quarterly.

Worth knowing

• TQQQ The prospectus is blunt: this seeks results for a single day only. Hold longer and compounding takes over, so multi-day results can land far from 3x the index move, especially in choppy tape.sec.gov
• Triple exposure cuts both ways. A rough day for the Nasdaq-100 hits roughly three times as hard here, which is why this scores as one of the riskier structures on our books.
• The fee break is contractual, not permanent. Should the waiver lapse after September 30, 2027, the cost reverts toward the 0.94% gross rate.

• URTY The reset is daily. Hold longer, especially through choppy tape, and results over that stretch can differ materially from 3x the index.
• Small-cap swings land tripled in both directions, and a deep drawdown takes an outsized move to climb back from.
• Trading is moderate for the category rather than heavyweight, so bid-ask spreads are worth a look.

Full TQQQ profile⁠

Full URTY profile⁠