The Direxion Daily Gold Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: BARS), we hardly knew ye.
Direxion, the second-largest issuer of inverse and leveraged exchange traded funds, said it is closing the The Direxion Daily Gold Bear 3X Shares. BARS, which seeks to deliver three times the daily inverse performance of gold futures, debuted in April.
“Due to the Fund’s inability to attract sufficient investment assets, Direxion believes the Fund cannot continue to conduct its business and operations in an economically efficient manner. As a result, the Board concluded that liquidating and closing the Fund would be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders,” said Direxion in a statement issued last week.
Shares of BARS will cease trading on Dec. 26 and the ETF’s assets will be liquidated on Dec. 30.
“The process of closing down and liquidating the Fund’s portfolio, scheduled to take place between December 26, 2014 and December 30, 2014, will result in the Fund not tracking its underlying index and experiencing an increase in cash holdings. These developments may not be consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and strategy,” according to the statement.
With 2014 being a rocky year for gold prices, it is arguably surprising that BARS, an ETF that has returned 8.1% since inception, is headed for closure. The Direxion Daily Gold Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: BAR), which debuted on the same day as BARS, was not mentioned in the statement.
BARS faced stiff competition from the ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSEArca: GLL) and the PowerShares DB Gold Double Short ETN (NYSEArca: DZZ), among others. [Bearish Gold ETFs]
The number of ETFs to close or be scheduled to close this year is over 70, but new launches are now over 200.
In September, Direxion announced the closures of the Direxion Daily Brazil 3x Bear Shares (NYSEArca: BRZS), Direxion Daily FTSE Europe Bear 3x Shares (NYSEArca: EURZ), Direxion Daily Japan 3x Bear Shares (NYSEArca: JPNS), Direxion Daily Korea 3x Bear Shares (NYSEArca: KORZ) and the Direxion Daily Natural Gas Related Bear 3X Shares (NSYEArca: GASX).
Direxion Daily Gold Bear 3X Shares
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.