ProShares Launches ETFs Tied to Russell Style Benchmarks

A news release from the New York firm said the new ProShares, benchmarked to six Russell style indexes, are the first ETFs or mutual funds designed to provide short or magnified exposure to growth and value indexes with large, mid, and small-cap versions of each.

“Investing in a specific style mutual fund or ETF has long been an easy way to tilt a portfolio’s exposure toward growth or value,” said Michael Sapir, CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, part of ProFunds Group, in the news release. “Now, by simply buying an ETF, fund investors can seek to hedge gains in other style investments with short exposure, or seek to increase the buying power of their investment dollar with magnified exposure.”

The newest ProShares provide short and magnified exposure to each of six Russell indexes. The UltraShort version of each is designed to provide twice the inverse of the daily performance of the applicable index (before fees and expenses), and the Ultra version is designed to double the daily performance of the applicable index (before fees and expenses).

Ultra Style ProShares (with benchmark and return goal)

• Ultra Russell1000 Value, Russell 1000, Double
• Ultra Russell1000 Growth, Russell 1000 Growth, Growth Double
• Ultra Russell MidCap Value, Russell MidCap Value, Double
• Ultra Russell MidCap Growth, Russell MidCap Growth, Double
• Ultra Russell2000 Value, Russell 2000 Value, Double
• Ultra Russell2000 Growth, Russell 2000 Growth, Double

UltraShort Style ProShares (with benchmark; all have return goal of double the inverse)

• UltraShort Russell1000 Value, Russell 1000 Value
• UltraShort Russell1000 Growth, Russell 1000 Growth
• UltraShort Russell MidCap Value, Russell MidCap Value
• UltraShort Russell MidCap Growth, Russell MidCap Growth
• UltraShort Russell2000 Value, Russell 2000 Value
• UltraShort Russell2000 Growth, Russell 2000 Growth

In the eight months since the initial launch of ProShares, the family has grown to more than $3 billion in assets, the company said. The new “style” funds bring ProShares’ total offering to 52 ETFs, covering broad market choices to specific sectors, according to the announcement.

More information is at http://www.proshares.com/.