SEF vs SKF: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, SEF finished 1.7 points over and SKF 2.5 points over. ProShares Short Financials and ProShares UltraShort Financials.
SEF returned +3.5% while −1 times XLF's move would have been +2.2%
SKF returned +5.7% while −2 times XLF's move would have been +4.4%
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 | SEF | SKF | SEF | SKF | SEF | SKF |
| 1 month | +8.1% | +16.2% | +7.1% | +14.3% | +1.0 pts | +1.9 pts |
| 3 months | +3.5% | +5.7% | +2.2% | +4.4% | +1.3 pts | +1.4 pts |
| 6 months | −5.9% | −13.7% | −8.8% | −17.5% | +2.8 pts | +3.9 pts |
| 1 year | +3.8% | +2.4% | −0.7% | −1.4% | +4.5 pts | +3.7 pts |
| 3 years | −30.9% | −60.2% | −68.6% | −137.2% | +37.7 pts | +77.0 pts |
| Since launch SEF Jan 2010 · SKF Jan 2010 | −89.3% | −99.5% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
SEF and SKF over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
SEF and SKF on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SEF in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SEF returned +3.5% where its own daily promise gave +1.8%, 1.7 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −1 times XLF's −2.2% implies +2.2%, which makes SEF look 1.3 points over. 0.4 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 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. 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.
SKF in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SKF returned +5.7% where its own daily promise gave +3.2%, 2.5 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times XLF's −2.2% implies +4.4%, which makes SKF look 1.4 points over. 1.2 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SKF aims to return -2 times XLF's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -2 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, SEF or SKF?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, SEF finished 1.3 points from what its multiple implies and SKF finished 1.4 points from its own, so SEF came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are SEF and SKF levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on financials, SEF at -1 times and SKF at -2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, SEF or SKF?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window SEF’s moved at 13% annualized and SKF’s at 13%, so SEF has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold SEF or SKF 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, SEF against SKF, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sef-vs-skf
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, SEF against SKF, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sef-vs-skf Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, SEF against SKF, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sef-vs-skf
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). SEF against SKF. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sef-vs-skf
- Markdown
- [SEF against SKF (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sef-vs-skf)