Direxion to Launch Leveraged S&P 500 ETF
Direxion, the second-largest issuer of inverse and leveraged exchange traded funds, will launch the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 2X Shares (NYSEArca:SPUU) today.
The new ETF was formerly known as the Direxion Daily Large Cap Bull 2X Shares. That ETF did not track the S&P 500. The S&P 500, the benchmark U.S. index, had annualized volatility of almost 19.5% for the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2013 and the index’s highest volatility in a single calendar year over that period was almost 27.6%, according to a Direxion filing.
The new double-leveraged S&P 500 ETF will compete with the ProShares Ultra S&P500 ETF (SSO) . SSO had $3.23 billion in assets under management at the end of the first quarter, according to ProShares data.
Direxion also offers bullish and bearish triple-leveraged S&P 500 offerings, the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3X Shares (SPXL) and the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X Shares (SPXS) .
The Direxion filing did mention a bearish equivalent to SPUU, the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 2X Shares, which would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “SFVS.”
That ETF would compete with the UltraShort S&P500 ProShares (SDS) .
Other new offerings launched by Direxion this year include the Direxion Daily Gold Bull 3X Shares (GLDL) and the Direxion Daily Gold Bear 3X Shares (GLDS) .
GLDL and GLDS are the first ETFs to provide triple-leveraged bullish and bearish exposure to Comex gold futures.
The S&P 500 closed at a new record high on Tuesday and is up 4.3% year-to-date.
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.
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