ProShares, a US-based ETF sponsor specializing in inverse and leveraged products, has announced the upcoming closure of three of its ETFs.
The funds slated for closure are the ProShares Ultra Gold Miners (GDXX US), the ProShares UltraShort Gold Miners (GDXS US), and the ProShares CDS Short North American HY Credit ETF (WYDE US).
The first two provide leveraged and inverse leveraged exposure to gold mining firms, respectively, while the latter offers inverse exposure to credit.
The gold miners ETFs provide twice the daily return, and twice the inverse daily return, of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index. The market cap-weighted index comprises companies listed globally that are primarily involved in the mining of gold and silver.
The index serves as the underlying for the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX US) which, with $9.5bn in assets under management, is comfortably the largest gold mining ETF worldwide.
The CDS ETF offers inverse exposure to North American high yield credit via credit default swaps. By offering inverse exposure, investors in the fund benefit when credit conditions of high yield issuers are deteriorating (the likelihood of repayment by North American high yield debt issuers decreases).
All three ETFs will cease trading on 5 August. The funds will then begin liquidating their portfolios with final proceeds expected to be sent to shareholders around 14 August.