RWM vs TZA: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, RWM finished 1.6 points over and TZA 4.2 points over. ProShares Short Russell2000 and Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X ETF.
RWM returned +8.6% while −1 times IWM's move would have been +6.9%
TZA returned +25.0% while −3 times IWM's move would have been +20.8%
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs 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
| Total return | Multiple would give | Difference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | RWM | TZA | RWM | TZA | RWM | TZA |
| 1 month | +5.9% | +17.9% | +5.2% | +15.6% | +0.7 pts | +2.3 pts |
| 3 months | +8.6% | +25.0% | +6.9% | +20.8% | +1.7 pts | +4.2 pts |
| 6 months | −9.3% | −29.7% | −11.9% | −35.7% | +2.6 pts | +6.0 pts |
| 1 year | −11.5% | −40.1% | −16.0% | −48.1% | +4.5 pts | +8.0 pts |
| 3 years | −32.3% | −82.9% | −62.6% | −187.7% | +30.3 pts | +104.8 pts |
| Since launch RWM Jan 2010 · TZA Jan 2010 | −89.9% | −100.0% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
RWM and TZA over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
RWM and TZA on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
RWM in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: RWM returned +8.6% where its own daily promise gave +7.0%, 1.6 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −1 times IWM's −6.9% implies +6.9%, which makes RWM look 1.7 points over. 0.0 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −1 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. RWM aims to return -1 times IWM's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. 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. IWM 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.
TZA in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: TZA returned +25.0% where its own daily promise gave +20.8%, 4.2 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −3 times IWM's −6.9% implies +20.8%, which makes TZA look 4.2 points over. 0.0 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. TZA aims to return -3 times IWM's move each day, then resets. 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.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, RWM or TZA?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, RWM finished 1.7 points from what its multiple implies and TZA finished 4.2 points from its own, so RWM came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are RWM and TZA levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the Russell 2000, RWM at -1 times and TZA at -3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, RWM or TZA?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window RWM’s moved at 13% annualized and TZA’s at 13%, so RWM has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold RWM or TZA 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.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
ETFIQ, RWM against TZA, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/rwm-vs-tza
Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, RWM against TZA, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/rwm-vs-tza Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, RWM against TZA, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/rwm-vs-tza
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). RWM against TZA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/rwm-vs-tza
- Markdown
- [RWM against TZA (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/rwm-vs-tza)