Just days after an unexpected surged in volatility sparked wild declines volatility exchange traded notes (ETNs), forcing the termination of one popular bearish volatility exchange traded note (ETN), the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (NASDAQ: XIV), some traders are flocking to rival products.
Earlier this month, the VIX surged, but volatility exchange traded notes, such as XIV have a unique feature: The indexes these products track settle after the close of U.S. markets. In after-hours trading on Feb. 6th, XIV suffered catastrophic losses. The ETN’s market closing on Feb. 6th was $99, but its closing indicative price as listed on the VelocityShares website was just $4.22.
Data suggest traders are renewing their affinity for other inverse volatility products, such as the VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN (Nasdaq: TVIX) and the ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEArca: UVXY). UVXY is a leveraged ETF designed to provide 200% of the daily performance of a basket of VIX futures contracts. It doesn’t replicate the CBOE Volatility Index spot price.
“The VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term ETN, known by its ticker TVIX, took in more than $20 million this week, the first time the $300 million ETN has seen inflows this month, according to Bloomberg data. And the $210 million ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures fund, or UVXY, gathered $13.3 million, the data show. Both funds promise to provide twice the performance of the Cboe SPX Volatility Index,” reports Bloomberg.