Last week we looked at a pair of ETFs that have vaporized millions of dollars of investor capital in recent years. One fund that might deserve to be added to the list is a leveraged inverse ETF that bets against Treasury bonds.
ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (NYSEArca: TBT) holds $2.9 billion in assets.
Although the leveraged bearish ETF is designed as a trading vehicle rather than a buy-and-hold investment, it has shed more than half its value over the past 12 months.
For the year ended July 16, TBT was down 55.2%, according to Morningstar.
The ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to 200% the inverse, or opposite, of the daily performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. 20+ Year Treasury Index, according to manager ProShares.
The leveraged ETF has been mauled by falling Treasury yields and higher bond prices.
For example, iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca: TLT) hit a new lifetime high earlier this week on the Eurozone debt crisis and worries over U.S. economic growth. [Treasury ETF Hits New All-Time High]