ETF Watch: Short 'Bricks & Mortar' Funds Filed
All three funds will provide short exposure to the traditional retail space.
A recent filing from ProShares outlines plans for ETFs that will appeal to investors with opinions on brick-and-mortar retail firms. The three proposed funds will offer short exposure to the space.
The ProShares Long Online Short Bricks & Mortar Retail ETF will track the Online vs Bricks and Mortar Retail Long/Short Index. The index sets the fund apart from the others in the filing in that it also offers long exposure to the online retail space, in addition to shorting the largest retailers that are potentially “threatened” by the rise of online retail.
The online retailers include mainly U.S. firms, with a maximum allocation of 20% to non-U.S. stocks. The selected stocks must have market capitalizations of at least $300 million and a significant U.S. presence. The long portion is equal-weighted.
The short position selects its exposures from the 100 largest U.S. retailers, targeting companies with market capitalizations of at least $500 million.
The ProShares UltraShort Bricks and Mortar Retail ETF looks to offer -200% exposure to the Bricks and Mortar Retail Index, while the ProShares UltraPro Short Bricks and Mortar Retail ETF will offer -300% exposure to the same index. The index is similar to the short position of the long/short fund, covering stocks selected from the largest 100 U.S. retailers that are likely to be threatened by online retail, and equal-weighting them on a monthly basis.
The filing did not include tickers, expense ratios or a listing exchange.
Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]