Data as of .
FAS vs SEF: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, FAS finished 3.0 points short and SEF 1.4 points over.
ETFIQ Decay Resistance Score: SEF scores higher
Did it keep up with its own daily multiple, compounded day by day?
A percentile among the 391 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All leveraged ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Multiple would give | Difference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAS | SEF | FAS | SEF | FAS | SEF | |
| 1 month | −4.5% | +1.5% | −3.5% | +1.2% | −1.1 pts | +0.3 pts |
| 3 months | +20.5% | −6.1% | +23.1% | −7.7% | −2.6 pts | +1.6 pts |
| 6 months | +52.7% | −13.5% | +54.3% | −18.1% | −1.6 pts | +4.6 pts |
| 1 year | +5.6% | −2.8% | +22.8% | −7.6% | −17.2 pts | +4.8 pts |
| 3 years | +188.3% | −32.6% | +219.0% | −73.0% | −30.6 pts | +40.4 pts |
| Since launch | +1810.9% | −90.0% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
| FAS Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X ETF Aims to return three times the daily move of financials (XLF) | SEF ProShares Short Financials Aims to return 1 times the opposite of the daily move of financials (XLF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Direxion | ProShares |
| Sets out to return | +3x | -1x |
| On | XLF | XLF |
| Segment | sector | sector |
| Fund returned, 3 months | +20.5% | −6.1% |
| Underlying returned, 3 months | +7.7% | +7.7% |
| What the stated multiple implies, 3 months | +23.1% | −7.7% |
| Difference from stated, 3 months | −2.6 pts | +1.6 pts |
| Fund returned, 1 year or since launch | +5.6% | −2.8% |
| Difference from stated, over that window | −17.2 pts | +4.8 pts |
| Underlying volatility | 13% | 13% |
| Expense ratio | 0.88% | not published |
| Launched | Jan 4, 2010 | Jan 4, 2010 |
FAS in plain words
Three months to Sep 11, 2026: FAS returned +20.5% where its own daily promise gave +23.4%, 3.0 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and +3 times XLF's 7.7% implies +23.1%, which makes FAS look 2.6 points short. 0.3 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any +3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. FAS aims to return +3 times XLF's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not +3 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more. XLF moved at 13% annualized over that window. That is what decides how far the two figures separate: the same fund on a calm underlying and a violent one is a different product.
SEF in plain words
Three months to Sep 11, 2026: SEF returned −6.1% where its own daily promise gave −7.5%, 1.4 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −1 times XLF's 7.7% implies −7.7%, which makes SEF look 1.6 points over. 0.2 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −1 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SEF aims to return -1 times XLF's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -1 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, FAS or SEF?
- Over the window to Sep 11, 2026, FAS finished 2.6 points from what its multiple implies and SEF finished 1.6 points from its own, so SEF came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are FAS and SEF levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on financials, FAS at +3 times and SEF at -1 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, FAS or SEF?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window FAS’s moved at 13% annualized and SEF’s at 13%, so FAS has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold FAS or SEF for a year?
- Both reset every day, so the multiple in the name applies to a single day and the daily results compound. Over a year the total is not the multiple times the year’s move, and in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less. ETFIQ makes no recommendation either way.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, FAS against SEF, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/FAS-SEF Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.