Weekly Channel Summary
The Leverage | Inverse ETF channel currently manages $145 billion in total assets across 569 ETFs from 25 different brands. This past week saw a net outflow of ($684 million), contributing to a difficult start to the year as year-to-date (YTD) flows remain negative at ($3.41 billion). Despite the recent pressure, the channel maintains a positive 1-year flow profile of $1.60 billion, reflecting the long-term growth and sustained interest in tactical trading vehicles despite short-term volatility.
This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards
Performance across the channel was highly fragmented this week, with significant divergence driven by volatile commodity and regional equity markets. The Commodity: Focused – Energy category led all groups with a robust 5.42% weekly return. Emerging markets also showed strength, with Asia-Pacific Emerging equities gaining 2.35%. Conversely, Consumer Staples and Cryptocurrency – Bitcoin struggled, posting losses of -1.83% and -1.64%, respectively. This dispersion highlights the extreme sensitivity of leveraged products to specific sector rotations and macroeconomic shifts.
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance
The Direxion MSCI Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares (KORU) was the standout performer this week, surging 17.40%. On the downside, the MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs (GDXD) and the AdvisorShares MSOS Daily Leveraged ETF (MSOX) faced severe headwinds, collapsing -61.83% and -41.06%, respectively.
| Ticker | Fund Name | WTD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Top Performers | ||
| KORU | Direxion MSCI Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares | 17.40% |
| WXET | Teucrium 2x Daily Wheat ETF | 11.65% |
| DFEN | Direxion Daily Aerospace & Defense Bull 3X Shares | 11.43% |
| AGQ | ProShares Ultra Silver | 10.56% |
| UCO | ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil | 10.36% |
| Bottom Performers | ||
| GDXD | MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs | -61.83% |
| MSOX | AdvisorShares MSOS Daily Leveraged ETF | -41.06% |
| ZSL | ProShares UltraShort Silver | -13.11% |
| QPUX | Defiance 2X Daily Long Pure Quantum ETF | -11.68% |
| SCO | ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil | -9.99% |
Analyzing the Weekly Flows
The channel recorded a net flow of ($684 million) this week, with investors rotating away from broad equity exposure toward specialized single-stock and commodity plays. The Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock category defied the broader trend, attracting $182 million in new capital, bringing its total AUM to $26.5 billion. Crypto also saw modest inflows of $58 million. In contrast, Leverage | Inverse – Equity bore the brunt of the selling with massive outflows of ($729 million).
Category Flows Summary
| Category | Fund Count | AUM | 5 Day | 30 Day | 90 Day | YTD | 1 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock | 305 | $26,527M | $182M | $3,756M | $4,778M | $2,936M | $11,518M |
| Leverage | Inverse – Crypto | 22 | $3,089M | $58M | $652M | $1,079M | $581M | $4,491M |
| Leverage | Inverse – Commodity | 16 | $5,569M | ($74M) | $1,013M | $2,265M | $1,525M | $2,253M |
| Leverage | Inverse – Fixed Income | 15 | $3,894M | ($120M) | ($782M) | ($1,218M) | ($995M) | ($2,321M) |
| Leverage | Inverse – Equity | 191 | $106,116M | ($729M) | ($3,189M) | ($10,393M) | ($7,479M) | ($14,368M) |
Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow
The ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (BOIL) led all individual ETFs with $98 million in new assets. Outflows were most aggressive in ProShares Ultra S&P 500 (SSO) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares (SOXL), which lost ($397 million) and ($141 million) respectively.
| Ticker | Fund Name | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Inflows | ||
| BOIL | ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas | $98M |
| SQQQ | ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ | $91M |
| SPXU | ProShares UltraPro Short S&P500 | $87M |
| SH | ProShares Short S&P500 | $47M |
| SDS | ProShares UltraShort S&P 500 | $27M |
| Outflows | ||
| SSO | ProShares Ultra S&P 500 | ($397M) |
| SOXL | Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares | ($141M) |
| TMF | Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares | ($130M) |
| TQQQ | ProShares UltraPro QQQ | ($117M) |
| KOLD | ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Natural Gas | ($110M) |
Issuer League Table Update
ProShares and Direxion continue to dominate the Leverage | Inverse landscape, commanding a combined market share of over 82%. Tradr emerged as the flow leader this week, gathering $139 million in weekly inflows. On the opposite side, ProShares saw the largest net withdrawals, with outflows totaling ($474 million).
Top 5 Issuers by AUM
| Brand | Fund Count | AUM | AUM Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProShares | 107 | $68.03B | 46.84% |
| Direxion | 124 | $51.26B | 35.30% |
| REX Microsectors | 19 | $7.22B | 4.97% |
| GraniteShares | 39 | $7.19B | 4.95% |
| Tradr | 60 | $2.78B | 1.92% |
Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow
| Brand | 5-Day Flow |
|---|---|
| Inflows | |
| Tradr | $139M |
| Defiance | $58M |
| GraniteShares | $50M |
| Outflows | |
| ProShares | ($474M) |
| Direxion | ($469M) |
| USCF | ($14M) |
For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Leverage | Inverse ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.
Disclosures
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.
This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.
