Leveraged Equity Funds Draw Billions as SOXL Leads Inflows

Weekly Channel Summary

The Leverage & Inverse channel ended the week with $176.96B in assets spread across 780 ETFs from 28 issuers. Net flows were positive at $3,668M for the five-day period, building on a $19,368M year-to-date total and $22,948M over the trailing year. The channel continues to see steady demand from traders using leveraged and inverse products for short-term tactical positioning.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Leverage | Inverse – Fixed Income led all categories on the week with a 2.61% WTD gain, though it remains deeply negative on a YTD basis at -10.48%. Leverage | Inverse – Commodity was the weakest performer, falling 5.95% WTD and extending a rough longer-term stretch that includes a -20.65% YTD return. Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock, Crypto, and Equity categories all posted weekly declines between roughly 1.3% and 3.0%, though Single Stock remains the standout over longer horizons with a 50.23% YTD and 85.86% one-year gain. At the fund level, MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs (GDXD) topped the week with a 28.97% gain, while its leveraged counterpart GDXU sat at the bottom, down 25.54%, highlighting the volatility embedded in gold miner-linked leveraged products this week.

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

Gold miner-focused leveraged and inverse products dominated both ends of the weekly performance spectrum. Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 2X ETF (JDST) and Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X ETF (DUST) gained 20.71% and 18.42%, respectively, as inverse bets against miners paid off. On the opposite side, Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 2X ETF (JNUG) and Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bull 2X ETF (NUGT) dropped 18.85% and 16.87% as the underlying sector reversed sharply. Direxion Daily FTSE China Bear 3X ETF (YANG) also posted a strong 14.87% gain, while 2x Avalanche ETF (AVAZ) and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long Copper Miners ETF (COPZ) rounded out the laggards, down 18.35% and 16.92%.

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

The channel attracted $3,668M in net new assets over the week. Leverage | Inverse – Equity led all categories by a wide margin, pulling in $4,256M and extending a robust 90-day total of $13,906M. Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock saw the largest outflow at -$451M despite a massive $10,749M YTD inflow figure, suggesting some short-term profit-taking after a strong run. Fixed Income and Crypto categories also saw modest weekly outflows of -$136M and -$40M, respectively, while Commodity funds added a small $38M.

Category Flows Summary

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (SOXL) was the clear leader in weekly inflows, gathering $3,133M, followed by ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) with $1,053M. Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF (SOXS) also drew notable interest at $549M, pointing to active two-sided positioning around the semiconductor trade. On the outflow side, ProShares Ultra S&P 500 (SSO) led redemptions at -$237M, followed by Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X ETF (TSLL) at -$222M.

Note: the following fund(s) were excluded from the flow totals above because the weekly flow exceeds 75% of the fund’s AUM and may be the result of a custom rebalance: KOLD (-$61M).

Issuer League Table Update

ProShares and Direxion remain the dominant forces in the channel, commanding 48.03% and 35.09% market share, respectively, with combined assets exceeding $147B across their fund lineups. Direxion also led weekly inflows by a wide margin, taking in $2,969M, well ahead of ProShares’ $690M and Leverage Shares’ $181M. On the outflow side, GraniteShares saw the largest weekly redemptions at -$217M, followed by T-Rex at -$54M and Volatility Shares at -$19M.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow