ProShares

ProShares is an American investment management company that issues exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with a particular emphasis on leveraged and inverse products. It operates as a subsidiary of the ProFunds Group and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Through its ETF line, ProShares provides investors with amplified or opposite exposure to major market benchmarks across equities, fixed income, commodities, and currencies.

The firm maintains a broad family of funds, including the Ultra and UltraPro series, as well as inverse and inversely leveraged funds. These funds seek daily results that correspond to multiples or inverse multiples of the performance of a chosen index, such as broad-market benchmarks or sector-specific gauges. In addition to traditional equity and bond ETFs, ProShares has introduced cryptocurrency-related products, most notably the Bitcoin futures-based BITO, which began trading in 2021.

Strategy, risk, and use: ProShares funds employ daily resetting leverage, which can magnify gains and losses over short horizons and may diverge from the longer-term performance of the underlying index due to compounding. They are generally intended for sophisticated traders and for hedging or tactical asset allocation rather than long-term buy-and-hold strategies. Fees and tracking differences also apply.

Industry position: ProShares is one of the leading sponsors of leveraged and inverse ETFs in the United States and has expanded its lineup to cover multiple asset classes and investment themes, contributing to the growth of the ETF ecosystem.