VelocityShares, the exchange traded note business of the Janus Henderson Group, debuted the first suite of 4x or 400% leveraged exchange traded products to hit the market.
On Tuesday, VelocityShares launched a suite of ten series of currency-related ETNs, including:
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long USD vs. JPY (NYSEArca: DJPY)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long USD vs. EUR (NYSEArca: DEUR)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long USD vs. GBP (NYSEArca: DGBP)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long USD vs. CHF (NYSEArca: DCHF)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long USD vs. AUD (NYSEArca: DAUD)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long JPY vs. USD (NYSEArca: UJPY)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long EUR vs. USD (NYSEArca: UEUR)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long GBP vs. USD (NYSEArca: UGBP)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long CHF vs. USD (NYSEArca: UCHF)
- VelocityShares Daily 4X Long AUD vs. USD (NYSEArca: UAUD)
Each ETN has a 1.50% expense ratio and are backed by Citigroup.
ETNs are not ETFs. Similar to index-based ETFs, ETNs also track some sort of index as part of their investment strategy. However, an exchange traded note, like the name implies, is a type of debt note that trades on an exchange – the notes are due on December 14, 2032. Consequently, investors are exposed to the credit risk or the possibility the underwriting bank, Citigroup, goes bankrupt. The note can be vulnerable if the issuer gets into financial trouble, otherwise known as a default. With an ETN, an investor can lose some or all of their investment if the ETN issuer goes under.
The 10 new ETNs tries to provide the 4x or 400% results on currency pairings on the U.S. dollar relative to the Japanese yen, European euro, the United Kingdom’s British pound sterling, Swiss franc and Australian dollar. Half of the ETNs offer long exposure to the USD relative to each of the developed market currencies while the other half provides long exposure to the foreign currency relative to the greenback or in essence an inverse bet on how the U.S. dollar will do against the five foreign currencies.
VelocityShares said the new ETNs came to market in response to rising demand for instruments to express views on foreign exchange markets. There are currently 35 U.S.-listed currency-related exchange traded products with $2.4 billion in assets under management, according to XTF data.
“This launch further demonstrates our dedication to developing sophisticated exchange traded products for institutional investors,” Nick Cherney, Senior Vice President, Head of Exchange Traded Products for Janus Henderson, said in a note.
For more information on new fund products, visit our new ETFs category.