Last week, the short volatility trade, previously beloved among market participants, unraveled in significant fashion, forcing the termination of one popular bearish volatility exchange traded note (ETN), the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (NASDAQ: XIV).
The ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEArca: SVXY) was not immune from the controversy, but SVXY, unlike XIV, is still open for business and some traders are flocking to the ProShares product.
“The ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures fund, which lost more than 80 percent of its value on Feb. 6, took in the most cash on record last week,” reports Bloomberg. “The product, which goes by the ticker SVXY, was the fifth-most popular exchange-traded fund in the U.S., absorbing more than $500 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That made it more attractive than small caps, utilities or even Treasuries.”
“SVXY provides short exposure to the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, which measures the returns of a portfolio of monthly VIX futures contracts with a weighted average of one month to expiration,” according to ProShares, the largest issuer of inverse and leveraged ETFs,