USLV vs UYG

USLVDDirexion Daily Silver Bull 2X ETF

UYGAProShares Ultra Financials

In short

USLV Silver leverage without the futures plumbing: USLV targets 200% of silver's daily move by referencing SLV, the physically backed silver trust, in a 1940 Act fund that trades like any stock and skips the K-1.

UYG Listed in January 2007, a year before the banking crash, UYG targets 2x the daily move of the financial stocks in the S&P 500. A veteran of the leveraged shelf, priced at 0.93% with no fee waiver propping that number up.

Stated mandate

USLV The fund seeks daily investment results equal to 200% of Silver's price performance before fees and expenses.

UYG UYG seeks pre-expense daily results equal to 2x the daily performance of the S&P Financial Select Sector Index. It is designed to provide magnified financials-sector exposure on a daily basis.

Why people hold it

• USLV Direxion calls it an industry first: 2X daily leverage aimed at spot silver, referencing the physically backed iShares Silver Trust instead of a futures roll schedule.direxion.com
• A registered 1940 Act fund, so it trades in an ordinary brokerage account and, per Direxion's materials, avoids K-1 paperwork.direxion.com
• The mandate is plain: 200% of silver's price performance, measured day by day, before fees and expenses.

• UYG One of the originals: on the tape since January 30, 2007, still running the same mandate of 2x the daily performance of the S&P Financial Select Sector Index.proshares.com
• At 0.93% with no waiver doing the work, it sits near the median fee of its leveraged peer group and level with sibling ROM (0.93%). QLD is 0.89%, but net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.
• The whole sector in one ticker: banks, insurers and capital-markets firms from the S&P 500, roughly 80 names, geared daily.proshares.com
• Stands in the top tier of the leveraged bull funds we grade, a group of close to a hundred tickers.

Worth knowing

• USLV The 2X target is a one-day target. Held through a choppy silver tape, compounding can leave results far from twice the period's move.sec.gov
• 1.10% net of a waiver through September 1, 2027 (1.12% gross), above the category median; index-based peers like QLD (0.89% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027) cost less.
• Launched May 2026, so the track record is short, and with a small asset base it is moderately traded rather than a volume giant.

• UYG The 2x target is a one-day target and resets each day. Over longer holds the result comes from compounding daily moves, and in choppy markets that can land well off twice the index's return for the period.proshares.com
• One sector, doubled. Financials move with rates, credit conditions and deal flow, and UYG amplifies that daily swing in both directions.
• It changes hands less than the headline leveraged funds, so the spread is worth a look before you place an order.

Full USLV profile⁠

Full UYG profile⁠