485APOS 1 d732242d485apos.htm 485APOS 485APOS

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 23, 2014

1933 Act File No. 333-150525

1940 Act File No. 811-22201

 

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20543

 

 

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

  x
Pre-Effective Amendment No.   ¨
Post-Effective Amendment No. 102   x

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

   x
Amendment No. 104    x

(Check appropriate box or boxes.)

 

 

DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

 

1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 35th Floor

New York, New York 10019

(Address of Principal Executive Office) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (646) 572-3390

Daniel D. O’Neill, Chief Executive Officer

1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 35th Floor

New York, New York 10019

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

 

 

Copy to:

 

Angela Brickl

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC

1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue)

35th Floor

New York, New York 10019

 

Eric S. Purple

K&L Gates LLP

1601 K Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006

 

 

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)

 

  ¨ immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
  ¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
  ¨ 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
  ¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
  x 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
  ¨ on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485.

If appropriate, check the following box:

 

  ¨ This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

 

 

 


DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST

CONTENTS OF REGISTRATION STATEMENT

This registration document is comprised of the following:

Cover Sheet

Contents of Registration Statement:

Combined Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares;

Part C of Form N-1A;

Signature Page; and

Exhibits.


The information in this Prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This Prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to completion, dated May 23, 2014

 

LOGO

DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST

PROSPECTUS

 

1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 35th Floor   New York, New York 10019   866-476-7523

 

2X BULL FUND   2X BEAR FUND

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares (MDLL)

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares (SMLL)

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares (SYTL)

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares (TYTL)

 

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares (MDSS)

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares (SMSS)

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares (SYTS)

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares (TYTS)

[            ], 2014

The funds offered in this prospectus (each a “Fund” and collectively the “Funds”) will upon commencement of operations, trade on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”).

The Funds seek daily leveraged investment results and are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles. The Funds with “Bull” in their names attempt to provide daily investment results that correlate to two times the performance of its underlying index on a daily basis and are collectively referred to as the “Bull Funds”. The Funds with “Bear” in their names (the “Bear Funds”) attempt to provide daily investment results that correlate to two times the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of its underlying index on a daily basis.

The Funds are not intended to be used by, and are not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. The Funds are very different from most mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. Investors should note that:

(1) The Funds pursue daily leveraged investment objectives, which means that the Funds are riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Funds magnify the performance of their underlying index.

(2) The Bear Funds pursue a daily leveraged investment objective that is inverse to the performance of its underlying index, a result opposite of most mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

(3) The Funds seek daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of these investment objectives means that the return of a Fund for a period longer than a full trading day will be the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day during the relevant period. As a consequence, especially in periods of market volatility, the path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to a Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of a Fund’s stated daily leveraged investment objective and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day. The Funds are not suitable for all investors.


The Funds are designed to be utilized only by sophisticated investors, such as traders and active investors employing dynamic strategies. Such investors are expected to monitor and manage their portfolios frequently. Investors in the Funds should:

 

  (a) understand the risks associated with the use of leverage,

 

  (b) understand the consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results,

 

  (c) understand the risk of shorting, and

 

  (d) intend to actively monitor and manage their investments.

Investors who do not understand the Funds or do not intend to actively manage their funds and monitor their investments should not buy the Funds.

There is no assurance that any Fund will achieve its investment objective and an investment in a Fund could lose money. No single Fund is a complete investment program.

If a Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, the Fund’s investors would lose all of their money. The Funds’ investment adviser, Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or “Adviser”), will attempt to position each Fund’s portfolio to ensure that a Fund does not lose more than 90% of its net asset value on a given trading day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on a Fund’s gains. As a consequence, a Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to underlying index movements beyond 45% on a given trading day, whether that movement is favorable or adverse to the Fund. For example, if a Bull Fund’s underlying index was to gain 50%, that Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90%, which corresponds to 200% of an underlying index gain of 45%, rather than 200% of an underlying index gain of 50%.

These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), nor have the SEC or CFTC passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


TABLE OF CONTENTS       

SUMMARY OF DIREXIONSHARES

     1   

DIREXION DAILY MID CAP BULL 2X SHARES

     1   

DIREXION DAILY MID CAP BEAR 2X SHARES

     8   

DIREXION DAILY SMALL CAP BULL 2X SHARES

     15   

DIREXION DAILY SMALL CAP BEAR 2X SHARES

     22   

DIREXION DAILY 7-10 YEAR TREASURY BULL 2X SHARES

     29   

DIREXION DAILY 7-10 YEAR TREASURY BEAR 2X SHARES

     36   

DIREXION DAILY 20+ YEAR TREASURY BULL 2X SHARES

     43   

DIREXION DAILY 20+ YEAR TREASURY BEAR 2X SHARES

     50   

OVERVIEW OF THE DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST

     57   

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING INVESTMENT TECHNIQUES AND POLICIES

     59   

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING RISKS

     67   

UNDERLYING INDEX LICENSORS

     76   

HOW TO BUY AND SELL SHARES

     77   

ABOUT YOUR INVESTMENT

     78   

SHORT-TERM TRADING

     79   

CREATIONS, REDEMPTIONS AND TRANSACTION FEES

     79   

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS

     81   

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

     81   

OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS

     81   

DISTRIBUTIONS

     81   

TAXES

     82   

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

     84   

MORE INFORMATION

     Back Cover   


SUMMARY OF Direxionshares

DIREXION DAILY MID CAP BULL 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to 200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the performance of the S&P MidCap® 400 Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.38

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

     0.06
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.94

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.28 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.66
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year      3 Years  
$ 67       $ 250   

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates long positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in the securities that comprise the S&P MidCap® 400 Index (“Index”) and/or financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Index. These financial instruments include: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments. On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or short-

 

 

1


term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high quality credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements.

The Index measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index composed of 400 domestic common stocks. Standard & Poor’s® selects the 400 stocks comprising the Index on the basis of market values and industry diversification. The Index represents approximately 7% of the U.S. equities market. Component securities have capitalizations ranging from $950 million to $10.5 billion as of April 30, 2014. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure either by directly investing in the underlying securities of the Index or by investing in derivatives that provide leveraged exposure to those securities. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for investing directly in a security in order to gain leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its stated investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from 200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance increases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index declines.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter

 

 

2


into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

Daily Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline

in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the

 

 

3


Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 43%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value in the Fund. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to

lose over 90% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was -50%.

Table 1

 

One

Year

Index

    200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     -120     -84.2     -85.0     -87.5     -90.9     -94.1
  -50     -100     -75.2     -76.5     -80.5     -85.8     -90.8
  -40     -80     -64.4     -66.2     -72.0     -79.5     -86.8
  -30     -60     -51.5     -54.0     -61.8     -72.1     -82.0
  -20     -40     -36.6     -39.9     -50.2     -63.5     -76.5
  -10     -20     -19.8     -23.9     -36.9     -53.8     -70.2
  0     0     -1.0     -6.1     -22.1     -43.0     -63.2
  10     20     19.8     13.7     -5.8     -31.1     -55.5
  20     40     42.6     35.3     12.1     -18.0     -47.0
  30     60     67.3     58.8     31.6     -3.7     -37.8
  40     80     94.0     84.1     52.6     11.7     -27.9
  50     100     122.8     111.4     75.2     28.2     -17.2
  60     120     153.5     140.5     99.4     45.9     -5.8

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 21.13%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1-March 31) during the five-year period is 28.30% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 24.85%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Equity Securities Risk

Investments in publicly issued equity securities and securities that provide exposure to equity securities, including common stocks, in general are subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time. Fluctuations in the value of equity securities in which the Fund invests will cause the NAV of the Fund to fluctuate.

 

 

4


Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index gains beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to gain 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is 200% of the Index gain of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. If the Index gains value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since a Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is 200% of its net assets, a change in both the exposure and the net assets of the Fund by the same absolute amount results in a change in the comparative relationship of the two. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek $200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index rose by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will have risen by 1% to $202 and the net assets will have risen by that $2 gain to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of $202, a purchaser at that point would be receiving 198% exposure of her investment instead of 200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that a decline in the daily performance of

the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% daily decline, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index decline of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than 200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index declines between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index thus adversely affecting Fund performance.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in

 

 

5


connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Small and/or Mid Capitalization Company Risk

Investing in the securities of small and/or mid capitalization companies, and securities that provide exposure to small and/or mid capitalization companies, involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more-established, larger capitalization companies. Small and mid capitalization companies often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies. Furthermore, those companies often have limited product lines, services, markets, financial resources or are dependent on a small management group. In addition, because these stocks are not well-known to the investing public, do not have significant institutional ownership and are followed by relatively few security analysts, there will normally be less publicly available information concerning these securities compared to what is available for the securities of larger companies. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether based on fundamental analysis, can decrease the value and liquidity of securities held by the Fund. As a result, their performance can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the

record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and

 

 

6


redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares only to Authorized Participants (typically, broker-dealers) in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of assets (securities and/or cash) in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

    

 

 

7


DIREXION DAILY MID CAP BEAR 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the S&P MidCap® 400 Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.38
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.88

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.28 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.60
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty has contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$61    $253

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the S&P MidCap® 400 Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or short-term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high quality

 

 

 

8


credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements. The Fund does not invest in equity securities.

The Index measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index composed of 400 domestic common stocks. Standard & Poor’s® selects the 400 stocks comprising the Index on the basis of market values and industry diversification. The Index represents approximately 7% of the U.S. equities market. Component securities have capitalizations ranging from $950 million to $10.5 billion as of April 30, 2014. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain inverse leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure by investing in a combination of financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse leveraged exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for directly shorting securities in order to gain inverse leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its stated investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from -200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance decreases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the inverse performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index rises.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Cash Transaction Risk

Unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally for in-kind securities, because of the nature of the financial instruments held by the Fund. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax efficient than investments in conventional ETFs.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a

 

 

9


limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily inverse leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne

by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit

 

 

10


risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (-200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain inverse leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 17.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period

during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 81.5%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose approximately 95% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was only 0%.

Table 1

 

One
Year
Index

    -200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     120     506.5     418.1     195.2     15.6     -68.9
  -50     100     288.2     231.6     88.9     -26.0     -80.1
  -40     80     169.6     130.3     31.2     -48.6     -86.2
  -30     60     98.1     69.2     -3.6     -62.2     -89.8
  -20     40     51.6     29.5     -26.2     -71.1     -92.2
  -10     20     19.8     2.3     -41.7     -77.2     -93.9
  0     0     -3.0     -17.1     -52.8     -81.5     -95.0
  10     -20     -19.8     -31.5     -61.0     -84.7     -95.9
  20     -40     -32.6     -42.4     -67.2     -87.2     -96.5
  30     -60     -42.6     -50.9     -72.0     -89.1     -97.1
  40     -80     -50.5     -57.7     -75.9     -90.6     -97.5
  50     -100     -56.9     -63.2     -79.0     -91.8     -97.8
  60     -120     -62.1     -67.6     -81.5     -92.8     -98.1

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 21.13%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 28.30% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 24.85%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

 

 

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Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index losses beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to lose 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is -200% of the Index loss of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. The Fund’s gains occur as its market exposure declines and its losses are accompanied by increases in market exposure. If the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will rise by an amount equal to the decline in the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the increase in the Fund’s exposure. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek -$200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index declined by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will fall by 1% to -$198 and the net assets will rise by $2 to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of -$198, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -194% exposure of her investment instead of -200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that an increase in the daily performance of the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for

every 1% daily increase, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index increase of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than -200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index rises between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index thus adversely affecting Fund performance.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by

 

 

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virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Shorting Risk

In order to achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund may engage in short sales which are designed to provide the Fund gains when the price of a particular security, basket of securities or indices declines. The Fund may also seek inverse or “short” exposure through the use of derivatives such as swap agreements or futures contracts, which may expose the Fund to certain risks such an increase in volatility or decrease in the liquidity of the securities of the underlying short position. If the Fund were to experience this volatility or decreased liquidity, the Fund’s return may be lower, the Fund’s ability to obtain inverse exposure through the use of derivatives may be limited or the Fund may be required to obtain inverse exposure through alternative investments strategies that may be less desirable or more costly to implement. If the securities underlying the short positions are thinly traded or have a limited market due to various factors, including regulatory action, the Fund may be unable to meet its investment objective due to lack of available securities or counterparties. During such periods, the Fund’s ability to issue additional Creation Units may be adversely affected. Obtaining inverse exposure through the use of derivatives or other financial instruments may be considered an aggressive investment technique.

Small and/or Mid Capitalization Company Risk

Investing in the securities of small and/or mid capitalization companies, and securities that provide exposure to small and/or mid capitalization companies, involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more-established, larger capitalization companies. Small and mid capitalization companies often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies. Furthermore, those companies often have limited product lines, services, markets, financial resources or are dependent on a small management group. In addition, because these stocks are not well-known to the investing public, do not have significant institutional ownership and are followed by relatively few security analysts, there will normally be less publicly available information concerning these securities compared to what is available for the securities of larger companies. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions,

whether based on fundamental analysis, can decrease the value and liquidity of securities held by the Fund. As a result, their performance can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in

 

 

13


the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash only to Authorized Participants in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those

distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

 

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DIREXION DAILY SMALL CAP BULL 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to 200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the performance of the Russell 2000® Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.40

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

     0.06
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.96

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.30 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.66
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$67    $254

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates long positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in the securities that comprise the Russell 2000® Index (“Index”) and/or financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Index. These financial instruments include: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments. On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or short-term

 

 

15


debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high quality credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements.

The Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe and is comprised of the smallest 2000 companies in the Russell 3000® Index, representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The companies included in the Index have an average market capitalization of more than $1.8 billion and a median market capitalization of $684 million as of April 30, 2014. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure either by directly investing in the underlying securities of the Index or by investing in derivatives that provide leveraged exposure to those securities. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for investing directly in a security in order to gain leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from 200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance increases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index declines.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

 

 

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Daily Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction

with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

 

 

17


Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 43%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value in the Fund. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose over 90% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was -50%.

Table 1

 

One
Year
Index

    200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     -120     -84.2     -85.0     -87.5     -90.9     -94.1
  -50     -100     -75.2     -76.5     -80.5     -85.8     -90.8
  -40     -80     -64.4     -66.2     -72.0     -79.5     -86.8
  -30     -60     -51.5     -54.0     -61.8     -72.1     -82.0
  -20     -40     -36.6     -39.9     -50.2     -63.5     -76.5
  -10     -20     -19.8     -23.9     -36.9     -53.8     -70.2
  0     0     -1.0     -6.1     -22.1     -43.0     -63.2
  10     20     19.8     13.7     -5.8     -31.1     -55.5
  20     40     42.6     35.3     12.1     -18.0     -47.0
  30     60     67.3     58.8     31.6     -3.7     -37.8
  40     80     94.0     84.1     52.6     11.7     -27.9
  50     100     122.8     111.4     75.2     28.2     -17.2
  60     120     153.5     140.5     99.4     45.9     -5.8

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 24.24%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 24.30% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 32.67%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Equity Securities Risk

Investments in publicly issued equity securities and securities that provide exposure to equity securities, including common stocks, in general are subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time. Fluctuations in the value of equity securities in which the Fund invests will cause the NAV of the Fund to fluctuate.

 

 

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Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index gains beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to gain 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is 200% of the Index gain of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. If the Index gains value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since a Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is 200% of its net assets, a change in both the exposure and the net assets of the Fund by the same absolute amount results in a change in the comparative relationship of the two. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek $200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index rose by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will have risen by 1% to $202 and the net assets will have risen by that $2 gain to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of $202, a purchaser at that point would be receiving 198% exposure of her investment instead of 200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that a decline in the daily performance of

the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% daily decline, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index decline of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than 200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index declines between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s

 

 

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performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Small and/or Mid Capitalization Company Risk

Investing in the securities of small and/or mid capitalization companies, and securities that provide exposure to small and/or mid capitalization companies, involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more-established, larger capitalization companies. Small and mid capitalization companies often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies. Furthermore, those companies often have limited product lines, services, markets, financial resources or are dependent on a small management group. In addition, because these stocks are not well-known to the investing public, do not have significant institutional ownership and are followed by relatively few security analysts, there will normally be less publicly available information concerning these securities compared to what is available for the securities of larger companies. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether based on fundamental analysis, can decrease the value and liquidity of securities held by the Fund. As a result, their performance can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the

Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that

 

 

20


an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares only to Authorized Participants (typically, broker-dealers) in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of assets (securities and/or cash) in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

    

 

 

21


DIREXION DAILY SMALL CAP BEAR 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Russell 2000® Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.40
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.90

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.30 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.60
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty has contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$61    $257

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Russell 2000® Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or short-term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high quality credit

 

 

 

22


profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements. The Fund does not invest in equity securities.

The Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe and is comprised of the smallest 2000 companies in the Russell 3000® Index, representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The companies included in the Index have an average market capitalization of more than $1.8 billion and a median market capitalization of $684 million as of April 30, 2014. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain inverse leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure by investing in a combination of financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse leveraged exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for directly shorting securities in order to gain inverse leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from -200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance decreases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the inverse performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index rises.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Cash Transaction Risk

Unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally for in-kind securities, because of the nature of the financial instruments held by the Fund. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax efficient than investments in conventional ETFs.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a

 

 

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limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne

by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit

 

 

24


risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (-200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain inverse leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 17.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period

during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 81.5%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose approximately 95% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was only 0%.

Table 1

 

One
Year
Index

    -200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     120     506.5     418.1     195.2     15.6     -68.9
  -50     100     288.2     231.6     88.9     -26.0     -80.1
  -40     80     169.6     130.3     31.2     -48.6     -86.2
  -30     60     98.1     69.2     -3.6     -62.2     -89.8
  -20     40     51.6     29.5     -26.2     -71.1     -92.2
  -10     20     19.8     2.3     -41.7     -77.2     -93.9
  0     0     -3.0     -17.1     -52.8     -81.5     -95.0
  10     -20     -19.8     -31.5     -61.0     -84.7     -95.9
  20     -40     -32.6     -42.4     -67.2     -87.2     -96.5
  30     -60     -42.6     -50.9     -72.0     -89.1     -97.1
  40     -80     -50.5     -57.7     -75.9     -90.6     -97.5
  50     -100     -56.9     -63.2     -79.0     -91.8     -97.8
  60     -120     -62.1     -67.6     -81.5     -92.8     -98.1

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 24.24%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 24.30% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 32.67%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

 

 

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Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index losses beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to lose 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is -200% of the Index loss of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. The Fund’s gains occur as its market exposure declines and its losses are accompanied by increases in market exposure. If the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will rise by an amount equal to the decline in the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the increase in the Fund’s exposure. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek -$200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index declined by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will fall by 1% to -$198 and the net assets will rise by $2 to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of -$198, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -194% exposure of her investment instead of -200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that an increase in the daily performance of the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for

every 1% daily increase, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index increase of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than -200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index rises between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the

 

 

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investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Shorting Risk

In order to achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund may engage in short sales which are designed to provide the Fund gains when the price of a particular security, basket of securities or indices declines. The Fund may also seek inverse or “short” exposure through the use of derivatives such as swap agreements or futures contracts, which may expose the Fund to certain risks such an increase in volatility or decrease in the liquidity of the securities of the underlying short position. If the Fund were to experience this volatility or decreased liquidity, the Fund’s return may be lower, the Fund’s ability to obtain inverse exposure through the use of derivatives may be limited or the Fund may be required to obtain inverse exposure through alternative investments strategies that may be less desirable or more costly to implement. If the securities underlying the short positions are thinly traded or have a limited market due to various factors, including regulatory action, the Fund may be unable to meet its investment objective due to lack of available securities or counterparties. During such periods, the Fund’s ability to issue additional Creation Units may be adversely affected. Obtaining inverse exposure through the use of derivatives or other financial instruments may be considered an aggressive investment technique.

Small and/or Mid Capitalization Company Risk

Investing in the securities of small and/or mid capitalization companies, and securities that provide exposure to small and/or mid capitalization companies, involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more-established, larger capitalization companies. Small and mid capitalization companies often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies. Furthermore, those companies often have limited product lines, services, markets, financial resources or are dependent on a small management group. In addition, because these stocks are not well-known to the investing public, do not have significant institutional ownership and are followed by relatively few security analysts, there will normally be less publicly available information concerning these securities compared to what is available for the securities of larger companies. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether based on fundamental analysis, can decrease the value

and liquidity of securities held by the Fund. As a result, their performance can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as

 

 

27


those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash only to Authorized Participants in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may

also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

 

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DIREXION DAILY 7-10 YEAR TREASURY BULL 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to 200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the performance of the NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.35

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

     0.05
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.90

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.25 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.65
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$66    $240

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates long positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in the securities that comprise the NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index (“Index”) and/or financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Index. These financial instruments include: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments. On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or

 

 

29


short-term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high quality credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements.

The Index is a multi-security index that includes all qualified U.S. Treasury bonds. Bonds eligible for inclusion must be: U.S. Treasury Bonds; bullet or callable issues with fixed coupon payments; denominated in U.S. Dollars; and have a maturity of 7-10 years at issuance. The Index rebalances monthly, after the close of trading on the last business day of each month, with coupons re-invested in the Index. The weighting of the bonds in each index is reset during the rebalance to represent the market value of each issue. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure either by directly investing in the underlying securities of the Index or by investing in derivatives that provide leveraged exposure to those securities. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for investing directly in a security in order to gain leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from 200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance increases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index declines.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

 

 

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Credit Risk

The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt security goes bankrupt or is unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay principal. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength or in an issuer’s or debt security’s credit rating also may affect a security’s value and thus have an impact on Fund performance.

Daily Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and

may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

 

 

31


Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%,

the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 43%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value in the Fund. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose over 90% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the

year was -50%.

Table 1

 

One
Year
Index

    200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     -120     -84.2     -85.0     -87.5     -90.9     -94.1
  -50     -100     -75.2     -76.5     -80.5     -85.8     -90.8
  -40     -80     -64.4     -66.2     -72.0     -79.5     -86.8
  -30     -60     -51.5     -54.0     -61.8     -72.1     -82.0
  -20     -40     -36.6     -39.9     -50.2     -63.5     -76.5
  -10     -20     -19.8     -23.9     -36.9     -53.8     -70.2
  0     0     -1.0     -6.1     -22.1     -43.0     -63.2
  10     20     19.8     13.7     -5.8     -31.1     -55.5
  20     40     42.6     35.3     12.1     -18.0     -47.0
  30     60     67.3     58.8     31.6     -3.7     -37.8
  40     80     94.0     84.1     52.6     11.7     -27.9
  50     100     122.8     111.4     75.2     28.2     -17.2
  60     120     153.5     140.5     99.4     45.9     -5.8

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 6.92%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 7.89% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 3.77%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

 

 

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Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index gains beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to gain 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is 200% of the Index gain of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Interest Rate Risk

The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities and securities that provide exposure to fixed income securities will fall when interest rates rise. Because the Fund invests in intermediate-term bonds, the effect of increasing interest rates may be more pronounced than for investment in short-term bonds. Recent events in the fixed-income market may expose the Fund to heightened interest rate risk and volatility.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. If the Index gains value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since a Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is 200% of its net assets, a change in both the exposure and the net assets of the Fund by the same absolute amount results in a change in the comparative relationship of the two. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek $200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index rose by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will have risen by 1% to $202 and the net assets will have risen by that $2 gain to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of $202, a purchaser at that point

would be receiving 198% exposure of her investment instead of 200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that a decline in the daily performance of the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% daily decline, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index decline of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than 200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index declines between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

 

 

33


Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment

of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

U.S. Government Securities Risk

A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. The market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. In addition, because many types of U.S. government securities trade actively outside the United States, their prices may rise and fall as changes in global economic conditions affect the demand for these securities.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

 

 

34


Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares only to Authorized Participants (typically, broker-dealers) in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of assets (securities and/or cash) in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

    

 

 

35


DIREXION DAILY 7-10 YEAR TREASURY BEAR 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.35
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.85

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.25 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.60
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty has contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$61    $246

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or short-term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high

 

 

 

36


quality credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements. The Fund does not invest in equity securities.

The Index is a multi-security index that includes all qualified U.S. Treasury bonds. Bonds eligible for inclusion must be: U.S. Treasury Bonds; bullet or callable issues with fixed coupon payments; denominated in U.S. Dollars; and have a maturity of 7-10 years at issuance. The Index rebalances monthly, after the close of trading on the last business day of each month, with coupons re-invested in the Index. The weighting of the bonds in each index is reset during the rebalance to represent the market value of each issue. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain inverse leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure by investing in a combination of financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse leveraged exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for directly shorting securities in order to gain inverse leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from -200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance decreases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the inverse performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index rises.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Cash Transaction Risk

Unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally for in-kind securities, because of the nature of the financial instruments held by the Fund. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax efficient than investments in conventional ETFs.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a

 

 

37


limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

Credit Risk

The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt security goes bankrupt or is unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay principal. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength or in an issuer’s or debt security’s credit rating also may affect a security’s value and thus have an impact on Fund performance.

Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may

be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be

 

 

38


exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (-200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the

securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain inverse leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 17.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 81.5%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose approximately 95% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was only 0%.

Table 1

 

One

Year

Index

    -200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     120     506.5     418.1     195.2     15.6     -68.9
  -50     100     288.2     231.6     88.9     -26.0     -80.1
  -40     80     169.6     130.3     31.2     -48.6     -86.2
  -30     60     98.1     69.2     -3.6     -62.2     -89.8
  -20     40     51.6     29.5     -26.2     -71.1     -92.2
  -10     20     19.8     2.3     -41.7     -77.2     -93.9
  0     0     -3.0     -17.1     -52.8     -81.5     -95.0
  10     -20     -19.8     -31.5     -61.0     -84.7     -95.9
  20     -40     -32.6     -42.4     -67.2     -87.2     -96.5
  30     -60     -42.6     -50.9     -72.0     -89.1     -97.1
  40     -80     -50.5     -57.7     -75.9     -90.6     -97.5
  50     -100     -56.9     -63.2     -79.0     -91.8     -97.8
  60     -120     -62.1     -67.6     -81.5     -92.8     -98.1

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 6.92%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 7.89% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 3.77%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

 

 

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Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index losses beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to lose 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is -200% of the Index loss of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Interest Rate Risk

The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities and securities that provide exposure to fixed income securities will fall when interest rates rise. Because the Fund invests in intermediate-term bonds, the effect of increasing interest rates may be more pronounced than for investment in short-term bonds. Recent events in the fixed-income market may expose the Fund to heightened interest rate risk and volatility.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. The Fund’s gains occur as its market exposure declines and its losses are accompanied by increases in market exposure. If the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will rise by an amount equal to the decline in the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the increase in the Fund’s exposure. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek

-$200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index declined by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will fall by 1% to -$198 and the net assets will rise by $2 to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of -$198, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -194% exposure of her investment instead of -200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that an increase in the daily performance of the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% daily increase, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index increase of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than -200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index rises between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A

 

 

40


non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Shorting Risk

In order to achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund may engage in short sales which are designed to provide the Fund gains when the price of a particular security, basket of securities or indices declines. The Fund may also seek inverse or “short” exposure through the use of derivatives such as swap agreements or futures contracts, which may expose the Fund to certain risks such an increase in volatility or decrease in the liquidity of the securities of the underlying short position. If the Fund were to experience this volatility or decreased liquidity, the Fund’s return may be lower, the Fund’s ability to obtain inverse exposure through the use of derivatives may be limited or the Fund may be required to obtain inverse exposure through alternative investments strategies that may be less desirable or more costly to implement. If the securities underlying the short positions are thinly traded or have a limited market due to various factors, including regulatory action, the Fund may be unable to meet its investment objective due to lack of available securities or counterparties. During such periods, the Fund’s ability to issue additional Creation Units may be adversely affected. Obtaining inverse exposure through the use of derivatives or other financial instruments may be considered an aggressive investment technique.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

U.S. Government Securities Risk

A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. The market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. In addition, because many types of U.S. government securities trade actively outside the United States, their prices may rise and fall as changes in global economic conditions affect the demand for these securities.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot

 

 

41


predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash only to Authorized Participants in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

 

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DIREXION DAILY 20+ YEAR TREASURY BULL 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to 200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the performance of the NYSE 20 Year Plus Treasury Bond Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.35

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

     0.10
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.95

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.25 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.70
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$72    $256

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates long positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in the securities that comprise the NYSE 20 Year Plus Treasury Bond Index (“Index”) and/or financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Index. These financial instruments include: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments. On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or

 

 

43


short-term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high quality credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements.

The Index is a multi-security index that includes all qualified U.S. Treasury bonds. Bonds eligible for inclusion must be: U.S. Treasury Bonds; bullet or callable issues with fixed coupon payments; denominated in U.S. Dollars; and have a maturity of 20 or more years at issuance. The Index rebalances monthly, after the close of trading on the last business day of each month, with coupons re-invested in the Index. The weighting of the bonds in each index is reset during the rebalance to represent the market value of each issue. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure either by directly investing in the underlying securities of the Index or by investing in derivatives that provide leveraged exposure to those securities. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for investing directly in a security in order to gain leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from 200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance increases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index declines.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

 

 

44


Credit Risk

The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt security goes bankrupt or is unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay principal. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength or in an issuer’s or debt security’s credit rating also may affect a security’s value and thus have an impact on Fund performance.

Daily Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and

may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

 

 

45


Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%,

the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 43%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value in the Fund. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose over 90% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was -50%.

Table 1

 

One

Year

Index

     200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

     Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60%         -120     -84.2     -85.0     -87.5     -90.9     -94.1
  -50%         -100     -75.2     -76.5     -80.5     -85.8     -90.8
  -40%         -80     -64.4     -66.2     -72.0     -79.5     -86.8
  -30%         -60     -51.5     -54.0     -61.8     -72.1     -82.0
  -20%         -40     -36.6     -39.9     -50.2     -63.5     -76.5
  -10%         -20     -19.8     -23.9     -36.9     -53.8     -70.2
  0%         0     -1.0     -6.1     -22.1     -43.0     -63.2
  10%         20     19.8     13.7     -5.8     -31.1     -55.5
  20%         40     42.6     35.3     12.1     -18.0     -47.0
  30%         60     67.3     58.8     31.6     -3.7     -37.8
  40%         80     94.0     84.1     52.6     11.7     -27.9
  50%         100     122.8     111.4     75.2     28.2     -17.2
  60%         120     153.5     140.5     99.4     45.9     -5.8

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 15.84%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 20.21% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 4.28%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

 

 

46


Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index gains beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to gain 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is 200% of the Index gain of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Interest Rate Risk

The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities and securities that provide exposure to fixed income securities will fall when interest rates rise. Because the Fund invests in long-term bonds, the effect of increasing interest rates may be more pronounced than investment in intermediate-term or short-term bonds. Recent events in the fixed-income market may expose the Fund to heightened interest rate risk and volatility.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. If the Index gains value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since a Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is 200% of its net assets, a change in both the exposure and the net assets of the Fund by the same absolute amount results in a change in the comparative relationship of the two. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek $200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index rose by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will have risen by 1% to $202 and the net assets will have risen by that $2 gain to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of $202, a purchaser at that point

would be receiving 198% exposure of her investment instead of 200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that a decline in the daily performance of the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% daily decline, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index decline of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than 200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index declines between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

 

 

47


Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment

of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

U.S. Government Securities Risk

A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. The market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. In addition, because many types of U.S. government securities trade actively outside the United States, their prices may rise and fall as changes in global economic conditions affect the demand for these securities.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

 

 

48


Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares only to Authorized Participants (typically, broker-dealers) in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of assets (securities and/or cash) in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

    

 

 

49


DIREXION DAILY 20+ YEAR TREASURY BEAR 2X SHARES

Important Information Regarding the Fund

The Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily leveraged investment results. The pursuit of daily leveraged goals means that the Fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Fund’s objective is to magnify the performance of an underlying index. The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -200% of the return of its underlying index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day. The path of the underlying index during the longer period may be at least as important to the Fund’s return for the longer period as the cumulative return of the underlying index for the relevant longer period, especially in periods of market volatility. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated goal and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the NYSE 20 Year Plus Treasury Bond Index. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time greater than one day. The Fund is different and much riskier than most exchange-traded funds.

The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results relative to the Index and is different and riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Therefore, the Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy or hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing shares in the secondary market may pay costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES(1)

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

     0.50

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00

Other Expenses of the Fund (2)

     0.35
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

     0.85

Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     (0.25 %) 
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement

     0.60
  

 

 

 

 

(1)  Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or the “Adviser”) has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with the Fund. Under the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty has contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation). Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by the Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.
(2)  Other Expenses are estimated for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

Expense Example

The example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year    3 Years
$61    $246

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the NYSE 20 Year Plus Treasury Bond Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds or short-term debt instruments that have terms-to-maturity of less than 397 days and exhibit high

 

 

 

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quality credit profiles, including U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements. The Fund does not invest in equity securities.

The Index is a multi-security index that includes all qualified U.S. Treasury bonds. Bonds eligible for inclusion must be: U.S. Treasury Bonds; bullet or callable issues with fixed coupon payments; denominated in U.S. Dollars; and have a maturity of 20 or more years at issuance. The Index rebalances monthly, after the close of trading on the last business day of each month, with coupons re-invested in the Index. The weighting of the bonds in each index is reset during the rebalance to represent the market value of each issue. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in the stocks of a particular industry or group of industries) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated.

The Fund may gain inverse leveraged exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. The Fund gains this exposure by investing in a combination of financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse leveraged exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for directly shorting securities in order to gain inverse leveraged exposure to the Index or its components. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times consistent with its investment objective. At the close of the markets each trading day, Rafferty positions the Fund’s portfolio so that its exposure to the Index is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The impact of the Index’s movements during the day will affect whether the Fund’s portfolio needs to be re-positioned. For example, if the Index has fallen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should rise, meaning that the Fund’s exposure will need to be increased. Conversely, if the Index has risen on a given day, net assets of the Fund should fall, meaning the Fund’s exposure will need to be reduced. This re-positioning strategy typically results in high portfolio turnover.

Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day’s return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from -200% of the return of the Index over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Index performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Index’s volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Index’s performance decreases.

Additionally, because a significant portion of the assets of the Fund may come from investors using “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies, the Fund may further need to engage in frequent trading.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund could lose money or its performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. The Adviser cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective. In addition, the Fund presents some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand how these risks interrelate before making an investment in the Fund. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.

Adverse Market Conditions Risk

Because the Fund magnifies the inverse performance of the Index, its performance will suffer during conditions in which the Index rises.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for the Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate the Fund’s performance with the performance of the Index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

Aggressive Investment Techniques Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, forward contracts, options and other swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Cash Transaction Risk

Unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally for in-kind securities, because of the nature of the financial instruments held by the Fund. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax efficient than investments in conventional ETFs.

Counterparty Risk

The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. These financial instruments may include swap agreements. The use of swap agreements and other counterparty instruments involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements that involve a

 

 

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limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. The Fund does not specifically limit its counterparty risk with respect to any single counterparty. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.

Credit Risk

The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt security goes bankrupt or is unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay principal. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength or in an issuer’s or debt security’s credit rating also may affect a security’s value and thus have an impact on Fund performance.

Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by the Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect the Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying Index. The Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its Index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the Index is impacted dynamically by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Fund uses investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options, that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may

be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund may use a combination of swaps on the Index and swaps on an ETF whose investment objective is to track the performance of the Index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the Index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Fund invests in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), the terms of the swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Fund. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

Futures Contracts. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of the securities held by the Fund and the prices of futures contracts. There may not be a liquid secondary market for the futures contracts.

Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two- party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

Options. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) hedged or used for cover, which may cause a given hedge not to achieve its investment objective.

Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be

 

 

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exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. The Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding. It also means that the return of an index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (-200%) generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index reduces the amount of a shareholder’s investment, any further adverse daily performance will lead to a smaller dollar loss because the shareholder’s investment had already been reduced by the prior adverse performance. Equally, however, if favorable daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index increases the amount of a shareholder’s investment, the dollar amount lost due to future adverse performance will increase correspondingly.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on the Fund’s performance as the Index experiences volatility. The Index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the Index. The table below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a one-year period and is shown to illustrate how holding the Fund for a period longer than one day may negatively impact investment return. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the

securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain inverse leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown. As shown below, the Fund would be expected to lose 17.1% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its Index provided no return over a one year period during which the Index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the Index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Fund widens to approximately 81.5%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose approximately 95% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was only 0%.

Table 1

 

One
Year
Index

    -200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     120     506.5     418.1     195.2     15.6     -68.9
  -50     100     288.2     231.6     88.9     -26.0     -80.1
  -40     80     169.6     130.3     31.2     -48.6     -86.2
  -30     60     98.1     69.2     -3.6     -62.2     -89.8
  -20     40     51.6     29.5     -26.2     -71.1     -92.2
  -10     20     19.8     2.3     -41.7     -77.2     -93.9
  0     0     -3.0     -17.1     -52.8     -81.5     -95.0
  10     -20     -19.8     -31.5     -61.0     -84.7     -95.9
  20     -40     -32.6     -42.4     -67.2     -87.2     -96.5
  30     -60     -42.6     -50.9     -72.0     -89.1     -97.1
  40     -80     -50.5     -57.7     -75.9     -90.6     -97.5
  50     -100     -56.9     -63.2     -79.0     -91.8     -97.8
  60     -120     -62.1     -67.6     -81.5     -92.8     -98.1

The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 15.84%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one fiscal year (April 1 – March 31) during the five-year period is 4.28% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014 is 20.21%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying Index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.

For additional information and examples demonstrating the effects of volatility and index performance on the long-term performance of the Fund, see “Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies” in the Fund’s statutory prospectus, and “Special Note Regarding the Correlation Risks of the Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

 

 

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Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Fund is not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. This table is intended to underscore the fact that the Fund is designed as a short-term trading vehicle for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Gain Limitation Risk

If the Fund’s underlying index moves more than 50% on a given trading day in a direction adverse to the Fund, you would lose all of your money. Rafferty will attempt to position the Fund’s portfolio to ensure that the Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on the Fund’s gains. As a consequence, the Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to Index losses beyond 45% in a given day. For example, if the Index were to lose 50%, the Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is -200% of the Index loss of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of the Fund’s holdings pursuant to its daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. The Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short-term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of the Fund’s trading. As such, if the Fund’s extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Interest Rate Risk

The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities and securities that provide exposure to fixed income securities will fall when interest rates rise. Because the Fund invests in long-term bonds, the effect of increasing interest rates may be more pronounced than investment in intermediate-term or short-term bonds. Recent events in the fixed-income market may expose the Fund to heightened interest rate risk and volatility.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Fund seeks leveraged investment results from the close of the market on a given trading day until the close of the market on the subsequent trading day. The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intraday in the secondary market is a function of the difference between the value of the Index at the market close on the first trading day and the value of the Index at the time of purchase. The Fund’s gains occur as its market exposure declines and its losses are accompanied by increases in market exposure. If the Index declines, the Fund’s net assets will rise by an amount equal to the decline in the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the increase in the Fund’s exposure. As an example (using simplified numbers), if the

Fund had $100 in net assets at the market close, it would seek -$200 of exposure to the next trading day’s Index performance. If the Index declined by 1% by noon the following trading day, the exposure of the Fund will fall by 1% to -$198 and the net assets will rise by $2 to $102. With net assets of $102 and exposure of -$198, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -194% exposure of her investment instead of -200%.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Fund, you are exposed to the risk that an increase in the daily performance of the Index will be leveraged. This means that your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% daily increase, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment. The Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of an Index increase of more than 50%. Further, purchasing shares during a day may result in greater than -200% exposure to the performance of the Index if the Index rises between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day.

To fully understand the risks of using leverage in the Fund, see “Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk” above.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

The Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of the Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading, which may lead to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains.

 

 

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Non-Diversification Risk

The Fund is non-diversified, which means it invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a conventional diversified fund.

Other Investment Companies (including Exchange Traded Funds) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. The Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, closed end investment company and ETF shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium and are subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance

Regulatory Risk

The Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Fund operates, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape.

Shorting Risk

In order to achieve its daily investment objective, the Fund may engage in short sales which are designed to provide the Fund gains when the price of a particular security, basket of securities or indices declines. The Fund may also seek inverse or “short” exposure through the use of derivatives such as swap agreements or futures contracts, which may expose the Fund to certain risks such an increase in volatility or decrease in the liquidity of the securities of the underlying short position. If the Fund were to experience this volatility or decreased liquidity, the Fund’s return may be lower, the Fund’s ability to obtain inverse exposure through the use of derivatives may be limited or the Fund may be required to obtain inverse exposure through alternative investments strategies that may be less desirable or more costly to implement. If the securities underlying the short positions are thinly traded or have a limited market due to various factors, including regulatory action, the Fund may be unable to meet its investment objective due to lack of available securities or counterparties. During such periods, the Fund’s ability to issue additional Creation Units may be adversely affected. Obtaining inverse exposure through the use of derivatives or other financial instruments may be considered an aggressive investment technique.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Fund has extremely high portfolio turnover which, causes the Fund to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Fund rarely holds securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. The Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Fund’s high portfolio turnover, the Fund could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because the Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of the Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, the Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit the Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Fund on the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives, are not entirely clear. Because the Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, the Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

U.S. Government Securities Risk

A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. The market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. In addition, because many types of U.S. government securities trade actively outside the United States, their prices may rise and fall as changes in global economic conditions affect the demand for these securities.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of that exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange on which it trades, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of the Fund that are listed for trading on an exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot

 

 

55


predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by the Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Fund.

Fund Performance

No prior investment performance is provided for the Fund because it had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Upon commencement of operations, updated performance will be available on the Fund’s website at www.direxionfunds.com/etf-perform or by calling the Fund toll free at 1-866-476-7523.

Management

Investment Adviser

Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.

Portfolio Manager

Paul Brigandi, the Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in this role since the Fund’s inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash only to Authorized Participants in large blocks, known as Creation Units, each of which is comprised of 50,000 Shares. Retail investors may only purchase and sell Shares on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. Those distributions will be subject to federal income tax and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Distributions or investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal. Distributions by the Fund may be significantly higher than those of most other ETFs.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or the Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

 

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OVERVIEW OF THE DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST

The Direxion Shares ETF Trust (“Trust”) is a registered investment company offering a number of separate exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). This Prospectus describes the ETFs of the Trust noted in the table below (each a “Fund” and collectively the “Funds”). Rafferty Asset Management, LLC (“Rafferty” or “Adviser”) serves as the investment adviser to each Fund.

The Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares are collectively referred to as the “Fixed Income Funds.”

Shares of the Funds (“Shares”) upon commencement of operations will be listed on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”). When Shares are listed and traded on the Exchange, the market prices for the Shares may be different from the intra-day value of the Shares disseminated by the Exchange and from their net asset value (“NAV”). Unlike conventional mutual funds, Shares are not individually redeemable securities. Rather, each Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis at NAV only in large blocks of Shares called “Creation Units.” A Creation Unit consists of 50,000 Shares. Creation Units of the Bull Funds are issued and redeemed in cash and/or in-kind for securities included in the relevant underlying index. Creation Units of the Bear Funds are issued and redeemed for cash.

Shares may only be purchased from or redeemed with the Funds in Creation Units. As a result, retail investors generally will not be able to purchase or redeem Shares directly from or with the Funds. Most retail investors will purchase or sell Shares in the secondary market with the assistance of a broker. Thus, some of the information contained in this Prospectus, such as information about purchasing and redeeming Shares from or with a Fund and all references to the transaction fee imposed on purchases and redemptions, is not relevant to retail investors.

As used in this Prospectus, the terms “daily,” “day,” and “trading day,” refer to the period from the close of the markets one trading day to the close of the markets on the next trading day.

The Funds seek 200% of the performance of a particular underlying index on a given day. The Funds seek to provide daily leveraged investment results, before fees and expenses, which correspond to the performance of a particular underlying index.

The Funds with the word “Bull” in their name (collectively, the “Bull Funds”) attempt to provide investment results that correlate positively to the return of an underlying index , meaning the Bull Funds attempt to move in the same direction as the underlying index . The Funds with the word “Bear” in their name (collectively, the “Bear Funds”) attempt to provide investment results that correlate negatively to the return of an underlying index , meaning that the Bear Funds attempt to move in the opposite or inverse direction of the underlying index.

The correlations sought by the Bull Funds and the Bear Funds are generally a multiple of the returns of the underlying index. For example, the daily leveraged investment objective for the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares is 200% of the daily total return of the performance of the S&P MidCap 400® Index, while the daily leveraged investment objective for the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares is 200% of the inverse, or opposite, of the daily total return of the performance of the S&P MidCap 400® Index. If, on a given day, the S&P MidCap 400® Index gains 1%, the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares is designed to gain approximately 2% (which is equal to 200% of 1%), while the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares is designed to lose approximately 2%. Conversely, if the S&P MidCap 400® Index loses 1% on a given day, the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares is designed to lose approximately 2%, while the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares is designed to gain approximately 2% (which is equal to -200% of the 1% index loss). Each Fund tracks an underlying index as noted below:

 

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Fund

  

Underlying Index

   Daily
Leveraged
Investment
Objective
 

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares

   S&P Midcap® 400 Index      200

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 3X Shares

        -200

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares

   Russell 2000® Index      200

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares

        -200

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

   NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index      200

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

        -200

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

   NYSE 20 Year Plus Treasury Bond Index      200

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

        -200

To pursue these results, each Fund uses aggressive investment techniques such as engaging in futures, swaps and options transactions. As a result, the Funds are designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily and daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with the Funds’ use of leverage and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Funds are not intended to be used by, and are not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. There is no assurance that any Fund will achieve its investment objective and an investment in a Fund could lose money. No single Fund is a complete investment program.

Changes in Investment Objective. Each Fund’s investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed by the Funds’ Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.

 

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING INVESTMENT TECHNIQUES AND POLICIES

 

Rafferty uses a number of investment techniques in an effort to achieve the stated investment objective for each Fund. The Funds each seek 200% of the return of their underlying indices on a given day.

For the Bull Funds, Rafferty attempts to magnify the returns of a Bull Fund’s underlying index for a one-day period. The Bear Funds are managed to provide returns inverse (or opposite) by a defined percentage to the return of a Bear Fund’s underlying index for a one-day period. To do this, Rafferty creates net “long” positions for the Bull Funds and net “short” positions for the Bear Funds. (Rafferty may create short positions in the Bull Funds and long positions in the Bear Funds even though the net exposure in the Bull Funds will be long and the net exposure in the Bear Funds will be short.) Long positions move in the same direction as their underlying index, advancing when the underlying index advances and declining when the underlying index declines. Short positions move in the opposite direction of the underlying index, advancing when the underlying index declines and declining when the underlying index advances. Additionally, none of the Funds seek income that is exempt from federal, state or local income taxes.

In seeking to achieve each Fund’s investment objective, Rafferty uses statistical and quantitative analysis to determine the investments each Fund makes and the techniques it employs. Rafferty relies upon a pre-determined model to generate orders that result in repositioning each Fund’s investments in accordance with its daily investment objective. Using this approach, Rafferty determines the type, quantity and mix of investment positions that it believes in combination should produce daily returns consistent with a Fund’s objective. In general, if a Fund is performing as designed, the return of the underlying index will dictate the return for that Fund. Each Fund pursues its investment objective regardless of the market conditions and does not take defensive positions.

Each Fund has a clearly articulated daily leveraged investment objective which requires the Fund to seek economic exposure in excess of its assets (i.e., net assets plus borrowing for investment purposes). To meet its objectives, each Fund invests in some combination of financial instruments so that it generates economic exposure consistent with the Fund’s investment objective.

Each Fund offered in this Prospectus significantly invests in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, floors and collars; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; ETFs; and other financial instruments. In addition, Rafferty uses these types of investments for the Funds to produce economically

“leveraged” investment results. Leveraging allows Rafferty to generate a greater positive or negative return for the Funds than what would be generated on the invested capital without leverage, thus changing small market movements into larger changes in the value of the investments of a Fund.

The Bull Funds generally may hold a representative sample of the securities in their underlying index. The sampling of securities that is held by a Bull Fund is intended to maintain high correlation with, and similar aggregate characteristics (e.g., market capitalization and industry weightings) to, the underlying index. A Bull Fund also may invest in securities that are not included in an underlying index or may overweight or underweight certain components of the underlying index. Certain Funds’ assets may be concentrated in an industry or group of industries to the extent that the Fund’s underlying index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries. In addition, each Fund offered in this Prospectus is non-diversified, which means that it may invest in the securities of a limited number of issuers.

At the close of the markets each trading day, each Fund will position its portfolio to ensure that the Fund’s exposure to its underlying index is consistent with the Fund’s stated investment objective. The impact of market movements during the day determines whether a portfolio needs to be repositioned. If the underlying index has risen on a given day, a Bull Fund’s net assets should rise, meaning their exposure may need to be increased. Conversely, if the underlying index has fallen on a given day, a Bull Fund’s net assets should fall, meaning their exposure may need to be reduced. If the underlying index has risen on a given day, a Bear Fund’s net assets should fall, meaning its exposure may need to be reduced. If the underlying index has fallen on a given day, a Bear Fund’s net assets should rise, meaning its exposure may need to be increased. Any of the Funds’ portfolios may also need to be changed to reflect changes in the composition of their underlying index. Rafferty increases a Fund’s exposure when its assets rise and reduces a Fund’s exposure when its assets fall.

The Funds are designed to provide daily leveraged investment returns, before fees and expenses, that are 200% of the returns of their underlying indices. A Fund may have difficulty in achieving its daily leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transaction costs, income items, accounting standards, significant purchase and redemption activity by Fund shareholders and/or disruptions or a temporary lack of liquidity in the markets for the securities held by the Fund. Additionally, if a Fund’s underlying index includes foreign securities or tracks a foreign market index where the foreign market closes before or after the New York Stock Exchange

 

 

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(“NYSE”) closes (generally at 4 PM Eastern Time), the performance of the underlying index may differ from the expected daily leveraged performance.

Seeking daily leveraged investment results provides potential for greater gains and losses for the Funds relative to the underlying index performance. For instance, the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares seeks to provide, before fees and expenses, 200% of the daily return of the S&P Midcap® 400 Index. If the S&P Midcap® 400 Index gains 2% on a given day, the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares would be expected to gain about 4%. Conversely, if the S&P Midcap® 400 Index declines 2% on a given day, the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares would be expected to lose about 4%. However, for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding for the Funds, which means that the return of an underlying index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target (e.g., 200% or -200%) generally will not equal a Fund’s performance over that same period. Consider the following examples:

Mary is considering investments in two Funds, Funds A, and B. Fund A is a traditional index ETF which seeks (before fees and expenses) to match the performance of the XYZ index. Fund B is a leveraged ETF and seeks daily leveraged investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to 200% of the daily performance of the XYZ index.

On Day 1, the XYZ index increases in value from $100 to $105, a gain of 5%. On Day 2, the XYZ index declines from $105 back to $100, a loss of 4.76%. In the aggregate, the XYZ index has not moved.

An investment in Fund A would be expected to gain 5% on Day 1 and lose 4.76% on Day 2 to return to its original value. The following example assumes a $100 investment in Fund A when the index is also valued at $100:

 

Day    Index
Value
     Index
Performance
    Value of
Investment
 
   $ 100.00         $ 100.00   

1

   $ 105.00         5.00   $ 105.00   

2

   $ 100.00         -4.76   $ 100.00   

The same $100 investment in Fund B, however, would be expected to gain in value on Day 1 but decline in value on Day 2.

The $100 investment in Fund B would be expected to gain 10% on Day 1 (200% of 5%) but decline 9.52% on Day 2.

Day    Index
Performance
    200% of
Index
Performance
    Value of
Investment
 
       $ 100.00   

1

     5.00     10.0   $ 110.00   

2

     -4.76     -9.52   $ 99.52   

Although the percentage decline in Fund B is smaller on Day 2 than the percentage gain on Day 1, the loss is applied to a higher principal amount, so the investment in Fund B experiences a loss even when the aggregate index value for the two-day period has not declined. (These calculations do not include the charges for expense ratio and financing charges.)

As you can see, an investment in Fund B has additional risks due to the effects of leverage and compounding.

The Funds are ETFs that seek daily leveraged investment results. The Funds are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles. The Funds are not intended to be used by, and are not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. The Funds are very different from most mutual funds and ETFs. First, the Funds pursue daily leveraged investment goals, which means that the Funds are riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Funds magnify the performance of their underlying index. Second, the Bear Fund pursues investment goals which are inverse to the performance of its underlying index, a result opposite of most mutual funds and ETFs. Third, the Funds seek daily leveraged investment results. An investor who purchases shares of a Fund intra-day will generally receive more, or less, than 200% exposure to the underlying index from that point until the end of the trading day. The actual exposure is a function of the performance of the underlying index from the end of the prior trading day. If a Fund’s shares are held for a period longer than a single trading day, the Fund’s performance is likely to deviate from the multiple of the underlying index performance for the longer period. This deviation will increase with higher underlying index volatility and longer holding periods. As a consequence, investors should not plan to hold the Funds unmonitored for periods longer than a single trading day. Further, the return for investors that invest for periods less than a full trading day or for a period different than a trading day will not be the product of the return of the Fund’s stated daily leveraged investment objective and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day. The Funds are not suitable for all investors.

For investments held for longer than a trading day, volatility in the performance of the underlying index from day to day is the primary cause of any disparity between a Fund’s actual returns, the product of the Fund’s beta and the returns of the underlying index for such longer period. Volatility causes such disparity because it exacerbates the

 

 

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effects of compounding on a Fund’s returns. In addition, the effects of volatility are magnified in the Funds due to leverage. For example, consider the following three examples that demonstrate the effect of volatility on a hypothetical Fund:

Example 1 – Underlying Index Experiences Low Volatility

Mary invests $10.00 in a hypothetical Bull Fund at the close of trading on Day 1. During Day 2, the Fund’s underlying index rises from 100 to 102, a 2% gain. Mary’s investment rises 4% to $10.40. Mary holds her investment through the close of trading on Day 3, during which the Fund’s underlying index rises from 102 to 104, a gain of 1.96%. Mary’s investment rises to $10.81, a gain during Day 3 of 3.92%. For the two day period since Mary invested in the Fund, the underlying index gained 4% although Mary’s investment increased by 8.1%. Because the underlying index continued to trend upwards with low volatility, Mary’s return closely correlates to the 200% return of the return of the underlying index for the period.

John invests $10.00 in a hypothetical Bear Fund at the close of trading on Day 1. During Day 2, the Fund’s underlying index gains 2%, and John’s investment falls by 4% to $9.60. On Day 3, the underlying index rises by 1.96%, and John’s fund falls by 3.92% to $9.22. For the two day period the underlying index returned 4% while the fund lost 7.8%. John’s return still correlates to -200% return of the underlying index, but not as closely as Mary’s investment in the Bull Fund.

Example 2 – Underlying Index Experiences High Volatility

Mary invests $10.00 in a hypothetical Bull Fund after the close of trading on Day 1. During Day 2, the Fund’s underlying index rises from 100 to 102, a 2% gain, and Mary’s investment rises 4% to $10.40. Mary continues to hold her investment through the end of Day 3, during which the Fund’s underlying index declines from 102 to 98, a loss of 3.92%. Mary’s investment declines by 7.84%, from $10.40 to $9.58. For the two day period since Mary invested in the Fund, the Fund’s underlying index lost 2% while Mary’s investment decreased from $10 to $9.58, a 4.2% loss. The volatility of the underlying index affected the correlation between the underlying index’s return for the two day period and Mary’s return. In this situation, Mary lost more than two times the return of the underlying index.

Conversely, John invests $10.00 in a hypothetical Bear Fund after the close of trading on Day 1. During Day 2, the Fund’s underlying index rises from 100 to 102, a 2% gain, and John’s investment falls 4% to $9.60. John continues to hold his investment through the end of Day 3, during which the Fund’s underlying index declines from 102 to 98, a loss of 3.92%. John’s investment rises by 7.84%,

from $9.60 to $10.35. For the two day period since John invested in the Fund, the Fund’s underlying index lost 2% while John’s investment increased from $10 to $10.35, a 3.5% gain. The volatility of the underlying index affected the correlation between the underlying index’s return for the two day period and John’s return. In this situation, John gained less than two times the return of the underlying index.

Example 3 – Intra-day Investment with Volatility

The examples above assumed that Mary purchased the Fund at the close of trading on Day 1 and sold her investment at the close of trading on a subsequent day. However, if she made an investment intra-day, she would have received a beta determined by the performance of the underlying index from the end of the prior trading day until her time of purchase on the next trading day. Consider the following example.

Mary invests $10.00 in a hypothetical Bull Fund at 11 a.m. on Day 2. From the close of trading on Day 1 until 11 a.m. on Day 2, the underlying index moved from 100 to 102, a 2% gain. In light of that gain, the Fund beta at the point at which Mary invests is 196%. During the remainder of Day 2, the Fund’s underlying index rises from 102 to 110, a gain of 7.84%, and Mary’s investment rises 15.4% (which is the underlying index gain of 7.84% multiplied by the 196% beta that she received) to $11.54. Mary continues to hold her investment through the close of trading on Day 3, during which the Fund’s underlying index declines from 110 to 90, a loss of 18.18%. Mary’s investment declines by 36.4%, from $11.54 to $7.34. For the period of Mary’s investment, the Fund’s underlying index declined from 102 to 90, a loss of 11.76%, while Mary’s investment decreased from $10.00 to $7.34, a 27% loss. The volatility of the underlying index affected the correlation between the underlying index’s return for period and Mary’s return. In this situation, Mary lost more than two times the return of the underlying index. Mary was also hurt because she missed the first 2% move of the underlying index and had a beta of 196% for the remainder of Day 2.

The Funds are designed to be utilized only by sophisticated investors, such as traders and active investors employing dynamic strategies. Such investors are expected to monitor and manage their portfolios frequently. Investors in the Funds should: (a) understand the risks associated with the use of leverage, (b) understand the consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, (c) understand the risk of shorting, and (d) intend to actively monitor and manage their investments. Investors who do not understand the Funds or do not intend to actively manage their funds and monitor their investments should not buy the Funds. There is no assurance that any of the Funds offered in this Prospectus will achieve their investment objectives and an investment in any Fund could lose money. No single Fund is a complete investment program.

 

 

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Market Volatility. Each Fund seeks to provide a return which is a multiple of the daily performance of its underlying index. No Fund attempts to, and no Fund should be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the underlying index for periods other than a single day. Each Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses.

Daily rebalancing will impair a Fund’s performance if the underlying index experiences volatility. For instance, a hypothetical Bull Fund would be expected to lose 4% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its underlying index provided no return over a one year period during which its underlying index experienced annualized volatility of 20%. A hypothetical Bear Fund would be expected to lose 12% (as shown in Table 1 below) if its underlying index provided no return over a one year period during which its underlying index experienced annualized volatility of 20%. If the underlying index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 40%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period for the Bull Fund widens to approximately 15% while the loss for the Bear Fund rises to 45%.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of Fund value even if the underlying index is flat. For instance, if annualized volatility of the underlying index is 90%, both the Bull and the Bear Funds with same underlying index would be expected to lose more than 76% and 99% respectively, of their value even if the cumulative underlying index return for the year was 0%. An index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of an index.

Table 1

 

Volatility

Range

    2X Bull Fund
Loss
    2X Bear
Fund
Loss
 
  10     -1     -3
  20     -4     -12
  30     -9     -26
  40     -15     -45
  50     -23     -65
  60     -33     -92
  70     -47     -99
  80     -55     -99
  90     -76     -99
  100     -84     -99

Table 2 shows the volatility rate for each of the Funds’ underlying indexes over the five years ended March 31, 2014. The underlying indices has annualized historical volatility rates over that period ranging from 6.92% to 24.24%. Since market volatility has negative implications for Funds which rebalance daily, investors should be sure to monitor and manage their investments in the Funds

particularly in volatile markets. The negative implications of volatility in Table 1 can be combined with the recent volatility ranges of various indexes in Table 2 to give investors some sense of the risks of holding the Funds for long periods. These tables are intended to simply underscore the fact that the Funds are designed as short-term trading vehicles for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. The Funds are not intended to be used by, and are not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Table 2

 

Index

   5-Year
Historical
Volatility
Rate
 

S&P MidCap® 400 Index

     21.13

Russell 2000® Index

     24.24

NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index

     6.92

NYSE 20 Year Plus Treasury Bond Index

     15.84

A Precautionary Note to Investors Regarding Dramatic Index Movement. A Bull Fund seeks daily exposure to its underlying index equal to 200% of its net assets while a Bear Fund seeks daily exposure to its underlying index equal to -200% of its net assets. As a consequence, a Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of a movement of its underlying index in excess of 50% in a direction adverse to the Fund (meaning a decline in the value of the underlying index of the Bull Fund and a gain in the value of the underlying index for the Bear Fund). Rafferty will attempt to position each Fund’s portfolio to ensure that a Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be symmetrical limitations on gains. If Rafferty successfully positions a Fund’s portfolio to provide such limits, a Fund’s portfolio and NAV will not be responsive to movements in its underlying index beyond 45% in a given day, whether that movement is favorable or adverse to the Fund. For example, if the Bull Fund’s underlying index were to gain 50%, the Bull Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90%, which corresponds to 200% of an underlying index gain of 45%, rather than 100%, which is 200% of the underlying index gain of 50%. Rafferty cannot be assured of similarly limiting a Fund’s losses and shareholders should not expect such protection. In short, the risk of total loss exists. In the event of a severe underlying index movement within one trading day, which results in such a limit on gains and losses, a Fund’s performance may be inconsistent with its stated investment objective.

The intra-day value of each Fund’s shares, otherwise known as the “intraday indicative value” or “IIV,” which is disseminated by the Exchange every 15 seconds

 

 

62


throughout the business day, is based on the current market value of the securities and cash required to be deposited in exchange for a Creation Unit on the prior business day. The IIV does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by a Fund at a particular point in time, nor the best possible valuation of the current portfolio. Therefore, the IIV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the Fund’s NAV, which is computed only once a day.

The Projected Return of the Bull Fund for a Single Trading Day. Each Bull Fund seeks to provide a daily return that is 200% of the daily return of an underlying index. Doing so requires the use of leveraged investment techniques, which necessarily incur financing charges. For instance, Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares seeks exposure to its underlying index in an amount equal to 200% of its assets, meaning it uses leveraged investment techniques to seek exposure to the S&P Midcap® 400 Index in an amount equal to 200% of its net assets. In light of the financing charges and the Bull Funds’ operating expenses, the expected return of the Bull Funds over one trading day is equal to the gross expected return, which is the daily underlying index return multiplied by the Bull Funds’ target, minus (i) financing charges incurred by the portfolio and (ii) daily operating expenses. For instance, if the S&P Midcap® 400 Index returns 2% on a given day, the gross expected return of the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares would be 4%, but the net expected return, which factors in the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, would be lower. Each Fund will reposition its portfolio at the end of every trading day. Therefore, if an investor purchases Fund shares at close of the markets on a given trading day, the investor’s exposure to the underlying index of a Bull Fund would reflect 200% of the performance of the underlying index during the following trading day, subject to the charges and expenses noted above, regardless of whether the investor sells the shares during that day.

The Projected Return of the Bear Fund for a Single Trading Day. Each Bear Fund seeks to provide a daily return which is200% of the inverse (or opposite) of the daily return of an underlying index. To create the necessary exposure, a Bear Fund engages in short selling—borrowing and selling securities it does not own. The money that a Bear Fund receives from short sales—the short sale proceeds—is an asset of the Bear Fund that can generate income to help offset the Bear Fund’s operating expenses. However, the costs of creating short exposure, which may require the Bear Fund’s counterparties to borrow and sell certain securities, may offset or outweigh such income. As the holder of a short position, a Bear Fund also is responsible for paying the dividends and interest accruing on the short position, which is an expense to the Bear Fund that could cause the Bear Fund to lose money on the short sale and may

adversely affect its performance. Each Fund will reposition its portfolio at the end of every trading day. Therefore, if an investor purchases Fund shares at close of the markets on a given trading day, the investor’s exposure to the underlying index of a Bear Fund would reflect 200% of the inverse performance of the underlying index during the following trading day, subject to the charges and expenses noted above, regardless of whether the investor sells the shares during that day.

The Projected Returns of Funds for Intra-Day Purchases. Because the Funds rebalance their portfolios once daily, an investor who purchases shares during a day will likely have more, or less, than 200% leveraged investment exposure to the underlying index. The exposure to the underlying index received by an investor who purchases a Fund intra-day will differ from the Fund’s stated daily leveraged investment objective (e.g., 200% or -200%) by an amount determined by the movement of the underlying index from its value at the end of the prior day. If the underlying index moves in a direction favorable to the Fund between the close of the market on one trading day through the time on the next trading day when the investor purchases Fund shares, the investor will receive less exposure to the underlying index than the stated fund daily leveraged investment objective (e.g., 200% or -200%). Conversely, if the underlying index moves in a direction adverse to the Fund, the investor will receive more exposure to the underlying index than the stated fund daily leveraged investment objective (e.g., 200% or -200%).

Table 3 below indicates the exposure to the underlying index that an intra-day purchase of a Bull Fund would be expected to provide based upon the movement in the value of a Bull Fund’s underlying index from the close of the market on the prior trading day. Such exposure holds until a subsequent sale on that same trading day or until the close of the market on that trading day. For instance, if the underlying index has moved 5% in a direction favorable to a Bull Fund, the investor would receive exposure to the performance of the underlying index from that point until the investor sells later that day or the end of the day equal to approximately 191% of the investor’s investment.

Conversely, if the underlying index has moved 5% in a direction unfavorable to a Bull Fund, an investor at that point would receive exposure to the performance of the underlying index from that point until the investor sells later that day or the end of the day equal to approximately 211% of the investor’s investment.

The table includes ranges of underlying index moves from 20% to -15% for a Bull Fund. Index moves beyond the range noted below will result in exposure further from the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective.

 

 

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Table 3

 

Index Move

    Resulting Exposure
for Bull Fund
 
  -20     2.67   
  -15     2.43   
  -10     2.25   
  -5     2.11   
  0     2.00   
  5     1.91   
  10     1.83   
  15     1.77   
  20     1.71   
  -20     2.67   
  -15     2.43   

Table 4 below indicates the exposure to the underlying index that an intra-day purchase of a Bear Fund would be expected to provide based upon the movement in the value of the underlying index from the close of the market on the prior trading day. Such exposure holds until a subsequent sale on that same trading day or until the close of the market on that trading day. Table 4 indicates that, if the underlying index has moved 5% in a direction favorable to a Bear Fund, the investor would receive exposure to the performance of the underlying index from that point until the investor sells later that day or the end of the day equal to approximately -173% of the investor’s investment. Conversely, if the underlying index has moved 5% in a direction unfavorable to a Bear Fund, an investor would receive exposure to the performance of the underlying index from that point until the investor sells later that day or the end of the day equal to approximately -233% of the investor’s investment.

The table includes a range of underlying index moves from 20% to -15% for a Bear Fund. Underlying index moves beyond the range noted below will result in exposure further from the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective.

Table 4

 

Index Move

    Resulting Exposure
for Bear Fund
 
  -20     1.14   
  -15     1.31   
  -10     1.50   
  -5     1.73   
  0     2.00   
  5     2.33   
  10     2.75   
  15     3.29   
  20     4.00   
  -20     1.14   
  -15     1.31   
 

 

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The Projected Returns of Funds for Periods Other Than a Single Trading Day. The Funds seek leveraged investment results on a daily basis—from the close of regular trading on one trading day to the close on the next trading day—which should not be equated with seeking a leveraged investment objective for any other period. For instance, if the S&P Midcap® 400 Index gains 10% for a week, the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares should not be expected to provide a return of 20% for the week even if it meets its daily leveraged investment objective throughout the week. This is true because of the financing charges noted above but also because the pursuit of daily goals may result in daily leveraged compounding, which means that the return of the underlying index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by a Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective or inverse daily leveraged investment objective (e.g., 200% or -200%) will not generally equal a Fund’s performance over that same period. In addition, the effects of compounding become greater the longer Shares are held beyond a single trading day.

The following charts set out a range of hypothetical daily performances during a given 10 trading days of an index and demonstrate how changes in the underlying index impact the Funds’ performance for trading day and cumulatively up to, and including, the entire 10 trading day period. The charts are based on a hypothetical $100 investment in the Funds over a 10 trading day period and do not reflect expenses of any kind.

Table 5 – The Index Lacks a Clear Trend

 

     Index     Bull Fund     Bear Fund  
     Value      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
    NAV      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
    NAV      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
 
     100           $ 100.00           $ 100.00        

Day 1

     105         5.00     5.00   $ 110.00         10.00     10.00   $ 90.00         -10.00     -10.00

Day 2

     110         4.76     10.00   $ 120.48         9.52     20.47   $ 81.43         -9.52     -18.57

Day 3

     100         -9.09     0.00   $ 98.57         -18.18     -1.43   $ 96.23         18.18     -3.76

Day 4

     90         -10.00     -10.00   $ 78.86         -20.00     -21.14   $ 115.48         20.00     15.48

Day 5

     85         -5.56     -15.00   $ 70.10         -11.12     -29.91   $ 128.31         11.12     28.33

Day 6

     100         17.65     0.00   $ 94.83         35.30     -5.17   $ 83.03         -35.30     -16.97

Day 7

     95         -5.00     -5.00   $ 85.35         -10.00     -14.65   $ 91.33         10.00     -8.67

Day 8

     100         5.26     0.00   $ 94.34         10.52     -5.68   $ 81.71         -10.52     -18.28

Day 9

     105         5.00     5.00   $ 103.77         10.00     3.76   $ 73.54         -10.00     -26.45

Day 10

     100         -4.76     0.00   $ 93.89         -9.52     -6.12   $ 80.55         9.52     -19.45

The cumulative performance of the underlying index in Table 4 is 0% for 10 trading days. The hypothetical return of the Bull Fund for the 10 trading day period is -6.12%, while the hypothetical return of the Bear Fund is -19.45%. The volatility of the underlying index performance and lack of clear trend results in performance for each Fund for the period which bears little relationship to the performance of the underlying index for the 10 trading day period.

 

65


Table 6 – The Index Rises in a Clear Trend

 

     Index     Bull Fund     Bear Fund  
     Value      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
    NAV      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
    NAV      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
 
     100           $ 100.00           $ 100.00        

Day 1

     102         2.00     2.00   $ 104.00         4.00     4.00   $ 96.00         -4.00     -4.00

Day 2

     104         1.96     4.00   $ 108.08         3.92     8.08   $ 92.24         -3.92     -7.76

Day 3

     106         1.92     6.00   $ 112.24         3.84     12.23   $ 88.69         -3.84     -11.31

Day 4

     108         1.89     8.00   $ 116.47         3.78     16.47   $ 85.34         -3.78     -14.66

Day 5

     110         1.85     10.00   $ 120.78         3.70     20.78   $ 82.18         -3.70     -17.82

Day 6

     112         1.82     12.00   $ 125.18         3.64     25.17   $ 79.19         -3.64     -20.81

Day 7

     114         1.79     14.00   $ 129.65         3.58     29.66   $ 76.36         -3.58     -23.64

Day 8

     116         1.75     16.00   $ 134.20         3.50     34.19   $ 73.68         -3.50     -26.31

Day 9

     118         1.72     18.00   $ 138.82         3.44     38.81   $ 71.14         -3.44     -28.85

Day 10

     120         1.69     20.00   $ 143.53         3.38     43.50   $ 68.73         -3.38     -31.25

The cumulative performance of the underlying index in Table 5 is 20% for 10 trading days. The hypothetical return of the Bull Fund for the 10 trading day period is 43.50%, while the hypothetical return of the Bear Fund is -31.25%. In this case, because of the positive underlying index trend, the Bull Fund gain is greater than 200% of the index gain and the Bear Fund decline is less than -200% of the underlying index gain for the 10 trading day period.

Table 7 – The Index Declines in a Clear Trend

 

     Index     Bull Fund     Bear Fund  
     Value      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
    NAV      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
    NAV      Daily
Performance
    Cumulative
Performance
 
     100           $ 100.00           $ 100.00        

Day 1

     98         -2.00     -2.00   $ 96.00         -4.00     -4.00   $ 104.00         4.00     4.00

Day 2

     96         -2.04     -4.00   $ 92.08         -4.08     -7.92   $ 108.24         4.08     8.24

Day 3

     94         -2.08     -6.00   $ 88.24         -4.16     -11.75   $ 112.76         4.16     12.75

Day 4

     92         -2.13     -8.00   $ 84.49         -4.26     -15.51   $ 117.55         4.26     17.55

Day 5

     90         -2.17     -10.00   $ 80.82         -4.34     -19.17   $ 122.66         4.34     22.65

Day 6

     88         -2.22     -12.00   $ 77.22         -4.44     -22.76   $ 128.12         4.44     28.10

Day 7

     86         -2.27     -14.00   $ 73.71         -4.54     -26.27   $ 133.94         4.54     33.91

Day 8

     84         -2.33     -16.00   $ 70.29         -4.66     -29.71   $ 140.17         4.66     40.15

Day 9

     82         -2.38     -18.00   $ 66.94         -4.76     -33.05   $ 146.84         4.76     46.82

Day 10

     80         -2.44     -20.00   $ 63.67         -4.88     -36.32   $ 154.01         4.88     53.99

The cumulative performance of the underlying index in Table 6 is -20% for 10 trading days. The hypothetical return of the Bull Fund for the 10 trading day period is -36.32%, while the hypothetical return of the Bear Fund 53.99%. In this case, because of the negative underlying index trend, the Bull Fund decline is less than 200% of the underlying index decline and the Bear Fund gain is greater than 200% of the underlying index decline for the 10 trading day period.

 

66


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING RISKS

An investment in the Funds entails risks. The Funds could lose money, or their performance could trail that of other investment alternatives. Rafferty cannot guarantee that any of the Funds will achieve their investment objectives. In addition, the Funds present some risks not traditionally associated with most mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review and understand these risks before making an investment in any of the Funds. Turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and fixed income markets could negatively affect issuers worldwide, including the Funds. The table below provides the risks of investing in the Funds. Following the table, each risk is explained.

 

    Adverse
Market
Conditions
Risk
    Adviser’s
Investment
Strategy
Risk
    Aggressive
Investment
Techniques
    Cash
Transaction
Risk
    Counterparty
Risk
    Credit
Risk
    Daily
Index
Correlation/
Tracking
Risk
    Daily
Inverse
Index
Correlation/
Tracking
Risk
    Derivatives
Risk
    Early
Close/
Trading
Halt
Risk
    Effects of
Compounding
and Market
Volatility
Risk
    Equity
Securities
Risk
    Gain
Limitation
Risk
 

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X            X        X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares

    X        X        X          X          X          X        X        X        X        X   

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X            X        X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares

    X        X        X          X          X          X        X        X        X        X   

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X        X          X        X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

    X        X        X          X        X        X          X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X        X          X        X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

    X        X        X          X        X        X          X        X        X          X   

 

67


    High
Portfolio
Turnover
Risk
    Interest
Rate
Risk
    Intra-Day
Investment
Risk
    Leverage
Risk
    Liquidity
Risk
    Market
Risk
    Market
Timing
Risk
    Non-Diversification
Risk
    Other
Investment
Company
(including
Exchange
Traded
Funds)
Risk
    Regulatory
Risk
    Shorting
Risk
    Small and/or
Mid
Capitalization
Company
Risk
    Tax and
Distribution
Risk
    U.S.
Government
Securities
Risk
    Special
Risks of
Exchange-
Traded
Funds
 

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares

    X          X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares

    X          X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X          X        X          X   

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares

    X          X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X          X   

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares

    X          X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X          X        X          X   

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X          X        X        X   

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X            X        X        X   

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X          X        X        X   

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

    X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X        X            X        X        X   

 

68


Adverse Market Conditions Risk

The performance of each Fund is designed to correlate to the performance of an underlying index. As a consequence, a Fund’s performance will suffer during conditions which are adverse to its investment goals. For example, if the underlying index has risen on a given day, a Bear Fund’s performance should fall. Conversely, if the underlying index has fallen on a given day, a Bull Fund’s performance also should fall.

Adviser’s Investment Strategy Risk

The Adviser utilizes a quantitative methodology to select investments for each Fund. Although this methodology is designed to correlate each Fund’s performance with the performance of its underlying index, there is no assurance that such methodology will be successful and will enable the Funds to achieve their investment objectives.

Aggressive Investment Techniques

The Funds use investment techniques that may be considered aggressive and may entail significantly higher than normal risk. Risks associated with the use of futures contracts, options and swap agreements include potentially dramatic price changes (losses) in the value of the instruments and imperfect correlations between the price of the contract and the underlying security or index. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Funds and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.

Cash Transaction Risk

Unlike most ETFs, the Bear Funds currently intend to effect creation and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally for in-kind securities, because of the nature of the financial instruments held by each Bear Fund. As such, investments in Bear Funds may be less tax efficient than investments in conventional ETFs. ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid being taxed on gain on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. Because the Bear Funds currently intend to effect redemptions principally for cash, a Bear Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. A Bear Fund may recognize a capital gain on these sales that might not have been incurred if such Bear Fund had made a redemption in-kind and this may decrease the tax efficiency of the Bear Funds compared to ETFs that utilize an in-kind redemption process.

Counterparty Risk

The Funds may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. Such financial instruments include, but are not limited to, total return, index and interest rate swap agreements. The Funds will use short-term counterparty agreements to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized in particular predetermined investments or instruments. The Funds will not enter into any agreement involving a counterparty unless the Adviser believes that

the other party to the transaction is creditworthy. The use of swap agreements involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Funds bear the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. In addition, the Funds may enter into swap agreements with a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. Swap agreements and other counterparty instruments also may be considered to be illiquid. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Funds and, as a result, the Funds may not be able to achieve their investment objectives.

Credit Risk

The Fixed Income Funds could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a debt security goes bankrupt or is unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay principal. Changes in an issuer’s financial strength or in an issuer’s or debt security’s credit rating also may affect a security’s value and thus have an impact on the Fixed Income Funds’ performance.

Daily Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

There is no guarantee that the Bull Funds will achieve a high degree of correlation to its underlying index and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the underlying index, each Bull Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily leveraged investment objective. Each Bull Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily leveraged investment objective due to fees and expenses, high portfolio turnover, transaction costs and costs associated with the use of leveraged investment techniques and/or a temporary lack of liquidity in the markets for the securities held by a Bull Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect each Bull Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. A Bull Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the underlying index. In addition, a Bull Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying index. Each Bull Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Bull Fund, potentially resulting in the Bull Fund being over- or under-exposed to its underlying index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the underlying index is impacted dynamically by the underlying index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that a Bull Fund will be perfectly exposed to its underlying index at the end of each day. The possibility of a Bull Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its underlying index increases on days when the underlying index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic Index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing

 

 

69


or reconstitution events may hinder a Bull Fund’s ability to meet its daily leveraged investment objective on that day.

Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk

For each Bear Fund, Shareholders should lose money when the underlying index rises, which is a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that a Bear Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the underlying index and therefore achieve its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. To achieve a high degree of correlation with the underlying index, a Bear Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. A Bear Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse leveraged investment objective due to fees, expenses, transactions costs, financing costs related to the use of derivatives, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the securities or derivatives held by a Bear Fund. Market disruptions, regulatory restrictions or extreme volatility will also adversely affect each Bear Fund’s ability to adjust exposure to the required levels. A Bear Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the underlying index. In addition, a Bear Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in the underlying index. A Bear Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Bear Fund, potentially resulting in the Bear Fund being over- or under-exposed to its underlying index. In addition, the target amount of portfolio exposure to the underlying index is impacted dynamically by the underlying index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that a Bear Fund will be perfectly exposed to the underlying index at the end of each day. The possibility of a Bear Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to its underlying index increases on days when the underlying index is volatile near the close of the trading day. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder a Bear Fund’s ability to meet its daily inverse leveraged investment objective on that day.

Derivatives Risk

The Funds use investment techniques, including investment in derivatives, such as swaps, futures and forward contracts, and options that may be considered aggressive. Investments in these derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that cause their prices to fluctuate more than an investment directly in a security and may increase the volatility of the Funds. The use of derivatives may expose the Funds to additional risks such as counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Funds use derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference assets and the derivative, which may prevent the Funds from achieving their investment objectives. The Funds may use a combination of swaps on the underlying index and swaps on an ETF whose

investment objective is to track the performance of the underlying index. The performance of this underlying ETF may not track the performance of the underlying index due to fees and other costs borne by the ETF and other factors. Thus, to the extent that the Funds invest in swaps that use an ETF as a reference or underlying asset, the Funds may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of correlation with the underlying index as it would if the Funds used swaps that utilized the underlying index securities as a reference or as underlying assets. Additionally, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the underlying index has a dramatic intraday move in value that causes a material decline in the Funds’ net asset value, the terms of the swap agreement between the Funds and their counterparty may allow the counterparty to immediately close out of the transaction with the Funds. In such circumstances, the Funds may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Funds’ daily leveraged investment objective. This may prevent the Funds from achieving their daily leveraged investment objective particularly if the underlying index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Funds’ return. In addition, the Funds’ investments in derivatives, as of the date of this Prospectus, are subject to the following risks:

 

  Futures Contracts. A futures contact is a contract to purchase or sell a particular security, or the cash value of an index, at a specified future date at a price agreed upon when the contract is made. Under such contracts, no delivery of the actual securities is required. Rather, upon the expiration of the contract, settlement is made by exchanging cash in an amount equal to the difference between the contract price and the closing price of a security or index at expiration, net of the variation margin that was previously paid.

 

  Forward Contracts. Forward contracts are two-party contracts pursuant to which one party agrees to pay the counterparty a fixed price for an agreed upon amount of commodities, securities, or the cash value of the commodities, securities or the securities index, at an agreed upon date. A forward currency contract is an obligation to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.

 

 

Options. An option is a contract that gives the purchaser (holder) of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (call) or sell to (put) the seller (writer) of the option the security or currency underlying the option at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option (normally not exceeding nine months). The writer of an option has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the underlying security or currency upon payment of the exercise price or to pay the

 

 

70


 

exercise price upon delivery of the underlying security or currency.

 

  Options on Futures Contracts. An option on a futures contract provides the holder with the right to enter into a “long” position in the underlying futures contract, in the case of a call option, or a “short” position in the underlying futures contract in the case of a put option, at a fixed exercise price to a stated expiration date. Upon exercise of the option by the holder, the contract market clearing house establishes a corresponding short position for the writer of the option, in the case of a call option, or a corresponding long position, in the case of a put option.

 

  Swap Agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period which may range from one day to more than one year. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular index. Interest rate swaps are subject to interest rate and credit risk. Total return swaps are subject to counterparty risk, which relates to credit risk of the counterparty and liquidity risk of the swaps themselves.

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk

An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in a Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, a Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk

There can be no guarantee that a Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with its daily leveraged investment objective relative to its underlying index. A failure to achieve a high degree of correlation may prevent a Fund from achieving its daily leveraged investment objective. A number of factors may adversely affect a Fund’s correlation with its underlying index, including fees, expenses, transaction costs, costs associated with the Funds’ use of leveraged investment techniques, income items and accounting standards. A Fund may not have investment exposure to all securities in its underlying index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such stocks or industries may be different from that of the underlying index. In addition, a Fund may invest in securities or financial instruments not included in its underlying index. A Fund may be subject to large movements of assets into and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or under-exposed to its

underlying index. Activities surrounding periodic index reconstitutions and other index rebalancing or reconstitution events may hinder the Funds’ ability to meet their daily leveraged investment objective on that day. Each Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to keep leverage consistent with each Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective.

Each Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are a multiple of the return of the Index for periods other than a single day. Each Fund rebalances its portfolio on a daily basis, increasing exposure in response to that day’s gains or reducing exposure in response to that day’s losses. This means that for a period longer than one day, the pursuit of daily leveraged investment objectives may result in daily leveraged compounding for the Funds. It also means that the return of an underlying index over a period of time greater than one day multiplied by the Fund’s daily leveraged investment objective (e.g., 200% or -200%) generally will not equal a Fund’s performance over that same period.

As a result, over time, the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the value of a Fund’s portfolio may diverge significantly from the cumulative percentage increase or decrease in the multiple of the return of the Fund’s underlying index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of a Fund. It also is expected that a Fund’s use of leverage will cause the Fund to underperform the return of two times its underlying index in a trendless or flat market.

The effect of compounding becomes more pronounced on a Fund’s performance as the underlying index experiences volatility. An index’s volatility rate is a statistical measure of the magnitude of fluctuations in the returns of the index. The tables below provide examples of how underlying index volatility could affect the Funds’ performance. The charts show estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of performance and volatility over a five-year period. Performance shown in the chart assumes that: (i) no dividends were paid with respect to the securities included in the Index; (ii) there were no Fund expenses; and (iii) borrowing/lending rates (to obtain inverse leveraged exposure) of 0%. If Fund expenses and/or actual borrowing/lending rates were reflected, the estimated returns would be different than those shown.

As shown in Table 8 and 9 below, a Bull Fund would be expected to lose 6.1% and a Bear Fund would be expected to lose 17.1% if its underlying index provided no return over a one year period during which the underlying index experienced annualized volatility of 25%. If the underlying index’s annualized volatility were to rise to 75%, the hypothetical loss for a one year period widens to approximately 43% for a Bull Fund and 81.5% for a Bear Fund.

At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a near complete loss of value even if the underlying index is flat. For instance, if the underlying index’s annualized volatility is 100%, it is likely that a Bull Fund would lose over 90%

 

 

71


of its value, if the cumulative Index return for the year

was –50%. Additionally, if the underlying index’s annualized volatility is 100%, it is likely a Bear Fund would lose approximately 95% of its value, even if the cumulative underlying index return for the year was only 0%. The volatility of U.S. ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the underlying index such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of a Fund’s underlying index.

Table 8 – Bull Fund

 

One
Year
Index

    200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     -120     -84.2     -85.0     -87.5     -90.9     -94.1
  -50     -100     -75.2     -76.5     -80.5     -85.8     -90.8
  -40     -80     -64.4     -66.2     -72.0     -79.5     -86.8
  -30     -60     -51.5     -54.0     -61.8     -72.1     -82.0
  -20     -40     -36.6     -39.9     -50.2     -63.5     -76.5
  -10     -20     -19.8     -23.9     -36.9     -53.8     -70.2
  0     0     -1.0     -6.1     -22.1     -43.0     -63.2
  10     20     19.8     13.7     -5.8     -31.1     -55.5
  20     40     42.6     35.3     12.1     -18.0     -47.0
  30     60     67.3     58.8     31.6     -3.7     -37.8
  40     80     94.0     84.1     52.6     11.7     -27.9
  50     100     122.8     111.4     75.2     28.2     -17.2
  60     120     153.5     140.5     99.4     45.9     -5.8

Table 9 – Bear Fund

 

One
Year
Index

    -200%
One
Year
Index
    Volatility Rate  

Return

    Return     10%     25%     50%     75%     100%  
  -60     120     506.5     418.1     195.2     15.6     -68.9
  -50     100     288.2     231.6     88.9     -26.0     -80.1
  -40     80     169.6     130.3     31.2     -48.6     -86.2
  -30     60     98.1     69.2     -3.6     -62.2     -89.8
  -20     40     51.6     29.5     -26.2     -71.1     -92.2
  -10     20     19.8     2.3     -41.7     -77.2     -93.9
  0     0     -3.0     -17.1     -52.8     -81.5     -95.0
  10     -20     -19.8     -31.5     -61.0     -84.7     -95.9
  20     -40     -32.6     -42.4     -67.2     -87.2     -96.5
  30     -60     -42.6     -50.9     -72.0     -89.1     -97.1
  40     -80     -50.5     -57.7     -75.9     -90.6     -97.5
  50     -100     -56.9     -63.2     -79.0     -91.8     -97.8
  60     -120     -62.1     -67.6     -81.5     -92.8     -98.1

Holding an unmanaged position opens the investor to the risk of market volatility adversely affecting the performance of the investment. The Funds are not appropriate for investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. These tables are intended to underscore the fact that the Funds are designed

as short-term trading vehicles for investors who intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios.

Equity Securities Risk

For the Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares, investments in publicly issued equity securities and securities that provide exposure to equity securities, including common stocks, in general are subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time. Fluctuations in the value of equity securities in which the Funds invest will cause the NAV of the Funds to fluctuate.

Gain Limitation Risk

Rafferty will attempt to position each Fund’s portfolio to ensure that a Fund does not lose more than 90% of its NAV on a given day. The cost of such downside protection will be limitations on a Fund’s gains. As a consequence, a Fund’s portfolio may not be responsive to index movements beyond 45% in a given day whether that movement is favorable or adverse. For example, if a Bull Fund’s underlying index were to gain 50%, a Bull Fund might be limited to a daily gain of 90% rather than 100%, which is 200% of the underlying index gain of 50%.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

Daily rebalancing of Fund holdings pursuant to each Fund’s daily investment objective causes a much greater number of portfolio transactions when compared to most ETFs. Such frequent and active trading leads to significantly higher transaction costs for the Funds because of increased broker commissions resulting from such transactions. In addition, there is the possibility of significantly increased short-term capital gains (which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them) and/or long-term capital gains. Each Fund calculates portfolio turnover without including the short term cash instruments or derivative transactions that comprise the majority of a Fund’s trading. As such, if the Funds’ extensive use of derivative instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.

Interest Rate Risk

Debt securities and securities that provide exposure to debt securities have varying levels of sensitivity to changes in interest rates. The U.S. is currently in a period of historically low interest rates and it is unclear how much longer interest rates will remain at their current levels. Due to recent events in the fixed-income markets, including the potential impact of the Federal Reserve Board tapering its quantitative easing program, the Fixed Income Funds may be subject to heightened interest rate risk as a result of a rise in interest rates. In addition, the Fixed Income Funds are subject to the risk that interest rates may exhibit increased volatility, which could cause a Fixed Income Fund’s NAV to fluctuate more. A decrease in fixed-income market maker capacity may act to decrease liquidity in the fixed-income markets and act to further increase volatility, affecting a Fixed Income Fund’s return. Changes or volatility in interest rates may adversely affect the performance of the Fixed Income Funds. In general,

 

 

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the price of a debt security may fall when interest rates rise and may rise when interest rates fall. Securities with longer maturities can be more sensitive to interest rate changes. In other words, the longer the maturity of a security, the greater the impact a change in interest rates could have on the security’s price. In addition, short-term and long-term interest rates do not necessarily move in the same amount or the same direction. Short-term securities tend to react to changes in short-term interest rates, and long-term securities tend to react to changes in long-term interest rates. The impact of an interest rate changes may be significant for other asset classes as well, whether because of the impact of interest rates on economic activity or because of changes in the relative attractiveness of asset classes due to changes in interest rates. For instance, higher interest rates may make investments in debt securities more attractive, thus reducing investments in equities.

Intra-Day Investment Risk

The Funds seek daily leveraged investment results, which should not be equated with seeking an investment objective for shorter than a day. Thus, an investor who purchases Fund shares after the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day will likely have more, or less, than 200% or -200% leveraged investment exposure to the underlying index, depending upon the movement of the underlying index from the end of one trading day until the time of purchase. If the underlying index moves in a direction favorable to a Fund, the investor will receive exposure to the underlying index less than 200% or -200% exposure to the underlying index. Conversely, if the underlying index moves in a direction adverse to a Fund, the investor will receive exposure to the underlying index greater than 200% or -200% exposure to the underlying index. Investors may consult the Funds’ website at any point during the day to determine how the current value of a Fund’s underlying index relates to the value of the underlying index at the end of the previous day.

Leverage Risk

To achieve its daily investment objective, each Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its daily objective than a similar fund that does not utilize leverage. If you invest in the Funds, you are exposed to the risk that any adverse daily performance of a Fund’s underlying index will be leveraged. This means that, if a Fund’s underlying index experiences adverse daily performance, your investment in the Fund will be reduced by an amount equal to 2% for every 1% of adverse performance, not including the cost of financing the portfolio and the impact of operating expenses, which would further lower your investment.

A Fund could theoretically lose an amount greater than its net assets in the event of a movement of its underlying index in excess of 50% in a direction adverse to the Fund. Further, purchasing shares of a Fund during a day may result in greater than 200% or -200% exposure to the performance of the underlying index if the underlying

index moves in a direction adverse to the Fund between the close of the markets on one trading day and before the close of the markets on the next trading day. Graphs 1 through 4 and the accompanying text included in the risk titled Negative Implications of Daily Goals in Volatile Markets provide a detailed discussion of such risks. In addition, the Funds’ website will provide information on a daily basis regarding the current relevant exposure if an investor purchases new shares of a Fund.

Liquidity Risk

Some securities held by the Funds, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities also may be difficult to value. If a Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or at a price that is lower than Rafferty’s judgment of the security’s true market value, the Fund may be forced to sell the security at a loss. Such a situation may prevent a Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.

Market Risk

Each Fund is subject to market risks that can affect the value of its shares. These risks include political, regulatory, market and economic developments, including developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market. A Bull Fund typically would lose value on a day when its underlying index declines. A Bear Fund typically would lose value on a day when its underlying index increases.

Market Timing Risk

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the assets of each Fund to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading to take advantage of anticipated changes in market conditions. Frequent trading could increase the rate of the Funds’ portfolio turnover, which involves correspondingly greater expenses to a Fund, including brokerage commissions or dealer mark-ups/mark-downs and other transaction costs on the sale of securities and reinvestments in other securities. Such sales also may result in adverse tax consequences to a Fund’s shareholders. The trading costs and tax effects associated with portfolio turnover may adversely affect the Funds’ performance. In addition, large movements of assets into and out of the Funds may have a negative impact on their ability to achieve their investment objectives or their desired level of operating expenses. The risks associated with market timing activity and high portfolio turnover will have a negative impact on longer-term investments.

Non-Diversification Risk

Each Fund is non-diversified. A non-diversified fund invests a high percentage of its assets in a limited number of securities. A non-diversified fund’s NAV and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.

 

 

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Other Investment Companies (including ETFs) Risk

Investments in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, (which may, in turn invest in equities, bonds, and other financial vehicles) may involve duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. By investing in another investment company or ETF, a Fund becomes a shareholder of that investment company or ETF. As a result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the other investment company or ETF, in addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders bear in connection with the Fund’s own operations. As a shareholder, the Fund must rely on the investment company or ETF to achieve its investment objective. A Fund’s performance may be magnified positively or negatively by virtue of its investment in other investment companies. If the investment company or ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the Fund’s investment will decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. In addition, because closed end investment companies and ETFs are listed on national stock exchanges and are traded like stocks listed on an exchange, their shares potentially may trade at a discount or a premium. Investments in such shares are also subject to brokerage and other trading costs, which could result in greater expenses to a Fund. Finally, because the value of other investment company or ETF shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not be able to liquidate a Fund’s holdings at the most optimal time, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.

Regulatory Risk

Each Fund is subject to the risk that a change in U.S. law and related regulations will impact the way the Funds operate, increase the particular costs of the Fund’s operations and/or change the competitive landscape. In particular, there is no guarantee that the Bear Fund will be permitted to continue to engage in short sales, which are designed to earn the Fund a profit from the decline of the price of a particular security, basket of securities or index.

Shorting Risk

Each Bear Fund may engage in short sales designed to earn a Bear Fund a profit from the decline in the price of particular securities, baskets of securities or indices. Short sales are transactions in which a Bear Fund borrows securities from a broker and sells the borrowed securities. A Bear Fund is obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing the security at the market price at the time of replacement. If the market price of the underlying security goes down between the time a Bear Fund sells the security and buys it back, a Bear Fund will realize a gain on the transaction. Conversely, if the underlying security goes up in price during the period, a Bear Fund will realize a loss on the transaction. Any such loss is increased by the amount of premium or interest the Bear Fund must pay to the lender of the security. Likewise, any gain will be decreased by the amount of premium or interest a Bear Fund must pay to the lender of the security. A Bear Fund’s investment performance may also suffer if a Bear Fund is required to close out a short position earlier than it had

intended. This would occur if the securities lender required a Bear Fund to deliver the securities the Bear Fund borrowed at the commencement of the short sale and the Bear Fund was unable to borrow the securities from another securities lender or otherwise obtain the security by other means. In addition, a Bear Fund may be subject to expenses related to short sales that are not typically associated with investing in securities directly, such as costs of borrowing and margin account maintenance costs associated with a Bear Fund’s open short positions. As the holder of a short position, a Bear Fund also is responsible for paying the dividends and interest accruing on the short position, which is an expense to the Bear Fund that could cause a Bear Fund to lose money on the short sale and may adversely affect its performance.

Small and/or Mid Capitalization Company Risk

Certain Funds may invest in the securities of small and/or mid capitalization companies and securities which provide exposure to small and/or mid capitalization companies. Such investment involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more established, larger capitalization companies. Small and mid capitalization companies often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies. Furthermore, those companies often have limited product lines, services, markets, financial resources or are dependent on a small management group. In addition, because these stocks are not well-known to the investing public, do not have significant institutional ownership and are followed by relatively few security analysts, there will normally be less publicly available information concerning these securities compared to what is available for the securities of larger companies. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether based on fundamental analysis, can decrease the value and liquidity of securities held by a Fund. As a result, their performance can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of a Fund’s portfolio.

Tax and Distribution Risk

The Funds have extremely high portfolio turnover, which causes the Funds to generate significant amounts of taxable income. This income is typically short-term capital gain, which is treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders, or short-term capital loss. The Funds rarely hold securities long enough to generate long-term capital gain or loss. Each Fund will generally need to distribute any net short-term capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements and avoid federal income tax liability. As a result of the Funds’ high portfolio turnover, the Funds could make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. Because each Fund’s asset level changes frequently, these distributions could comprise a substantial portion or even all of a Fund’s net assets if it distributes this income after a decline in its net assets. In addition, a Fund may be held by short-term investors, which may exit a Fund prior to the record date of a distribution. As a result, shareholders in the Funds on

 

 

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the day of a distribution may receive substantial distributions, which could lead to negative tax implications for them. Potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information.

Rules governing the federal income tax aspects of certain derivatives, including total return equity swaps, real estate-related swaps, credit default swaps and other credit derivatives are not entirely clear. Because each Fund’s status as a “regulated investment company” might be affected if the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) did not accept the Fund’s treatment of certain transactions involving derivatives, a Fund’s ability to engage in these transactions may be limited.

U.S. Government Securities Risk

The Fixed Income Funds are subject to the risks of investing in U.S government securities. A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. The market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. In addition, because many types of U.S. government securities trade actively outside the United States, their prices may rise and fall as changes in global economic conditions affect the demand for these securities.

Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds

Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by a Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as Creation Units. You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility or other reasons. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange, and the listing requirements may be amended from time to time.

Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares of a Fund that are listed for trading on the Exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Differences between secondary market prices and NAV for Shares may be due largely to supply and demand forces in the secondary market, which forces may not be the same as those influencing prices for securities or instruments held by a Fund at a particular time. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell

those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. A Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with a Fund. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for Shares of the Funds.

A Precautionary Note to Retail Investors. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), a limited trust company and securities depositary that serves as a national clearinghouse for the settlement of trades for its participating banks and broker-dealers, or its nominee will be the registered owner of all outstanding Shares of each Fund of the Trust. Your ownership of Shares will be shown on the records of DTC and the DTC Participant broker through whom you hold the Shares. THE TRUST WILL NOT HAVE ANY RECORD OF YOUR OWNERSHIP. Your account information will be maintained by your broker, who will provide you with account statements, confirmations of your purchases and sales of Shares, and tax information. Your broker also will be responsible for ensuring that you receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund whose Shares you own. Typically, you will receive other services (e.g., average basis information) only if your broker offers these services.

A Precautionary Note to Purchasers of Creation Units. You should be aware of certain legal risks unique to investors purchasing Creation Units directly from the issuing Fund. Because new Shares may be issued on an ongoing basis, a “distribution” of Shares could be occurring at any time. As a dealer, certain activities on your part could, depending on the circumstances, result in your being deemed a participant in the distribution, in a manner that could render you a statutory underwriter and subject you to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”). For example, you could be deemed a statutory underwriter if you purchase Creation Units from an issuing Fund, break them down into the constituent Shares and sell those Shares directly to customers, or if you choose to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares. Whether a person is an underwriter depends upon all of the facts and circumstances pertaining to that person’s activities, and the examples mentioned here should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could cause you to be deemed an underwriter. Dealers who are not “underwriters,” but are participating in a distribution (as

 

 

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opposed to engaging in ordinary secondary market transactions), and thus dealing with Shares as part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(3)(C) of the Securities Act, will be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(3) of the Securities Act.

A Precautionary Note to Investment Companies. For purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”) each Fund is a registered investment company, and the acquisition of Shares by other investment companies is subject to the restrictions of Section 12(d)(1) thereof.

The Trust and the Funds have obtained an exemptive order from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) allowing a registered investment company to invest in a Fund beyond the limits of Section 12(d)(1) subject to certain conditions, including that a registered investment company enters into a Participation Agreement with the Trust regarding the terms of the investment. Any investment company considering purchasing Shares of a Fund in amounts that would cause it to exceed the restrictions under Section 12(d)(1) should contact the Trust.

A Precautionary Note Regarding Unusual Circumstances. The Trust can postpone payment of redemption proceeds for any period during which (1) the Exchange is closed other than customary weekend and holiday closings, (2) trading on the Exchange is restricted, as determined by the SEC, (3) any emergency circumstances exist, as determined by the SEC, or (4) the SEC by order permits for the protection of shareholders of a Fund.

UNDERLYING INDEX LICENSORS

NYSE Index. Neither the Trust nor the Funds are sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by NYSE EURONEXT or its affiliates (“NYSE EURONEXT”). NYSE EURONEXT makes no representation or warranty regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally, in the Funds particularly, or the ability of the NYSE U.S. 100 Index (“NYSE Indices”) to track general stock market performance.

NYSE EURONEXT MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE WITH RESPECT TO THE NYSE INDICES OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. IN NO EVENT SHALL NYSE EURONEXT HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Russell. The Russell 2000® Index (the Russell Index”) is a trademark of Frank Russell Company (“Russell”) and have been licensed for use by the Trust. None of the Funds in

the Trust are sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Russell. Russell makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Trust or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Trust particularly or the ability of the Russell Index to track general stock market performance or a segment of the same. Russell’s publication of the Russell Index in no way suggests or implies an opinion by Russell as to the advisability of investment in any or all of the securities upon which the Russell Index is based. Russell’s only relationship to the Trust is the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names of Russell and of the Russell Index which is determined, composed and calculated by Russell without regard to the Trust or any of its Funds. Russell is not responsible for and has not reviewed the Trust or any of its Funds nor any associated literature or publications and Russell makes no representation or warranty express or implied as to their accuracy or completeness, or otherwise. Russell reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to alter, amend, terminate or in any way change the Russell Index. Russell has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Funds.

Russell does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of the RUSSELL INDEX or any data included therein and Russell shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein. Russell makes no warranty, express of implied, as to results to be obtained by the trust, investors, owners of the Funds, or any other person or entity from the use of the RUSSELL INDEX or any data included therein. Russell makes no express or implied warranties, and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to the RUSSELL INDEX OR any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall Russell have any liability for any special, punitive, indirect, or consequential damages (including lost profits), even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

 

 

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Standard and Poor’s Index. The S&P MidCap® 400 Index is a trademark of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., and has been licensed for use by the Trust. The Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) or its third party licensors. Neither S&P nor its third party licensors makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Funds or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Funds particularly or the ability of the S&P MidCap® 400 Index to track general stock market performance. S&P’s only relationship to the Funds is the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names of S&P and the third party licensors and of the S&P Index which is determined, composed and calculated by S&P or its third party licensors without regard to the Funds. S&P has no obligation to take the needs of the Funds or the owners of the Funds into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the S&P MidCap® 400 Index. S&P is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the prices and amount of the Funds or the timing of the issuance or sale of the Funds or in the determination the net asset value of the Funds. S&P has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Funds.

NEITHER S&P, ITS AFFILIATES NOR THEIR THIRD PARTY LICENSORS GUARANTEE THE ADEQUACY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS OR COMPLETENESS OF THE S&P INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN OR ANY COMMUNICATIONS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS (INCLUDING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS) WITH RESPECT THERETO. S&P, ITS AFFILIATES AND THEIR THIRD PARTY LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANY DAMAGES OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS OR DELAYS THEREIN. S&P MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE WITH RESPECT TO THE MARKS, THE S&P INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT WHATSOEVER SHALL S&P, ITS AFFILIATES OR THEIR THIRD PARTY LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, TRADING LOSSES, LOST TIME OR GOODWILL, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.

HOW TO BUY AND SELL SHARES

Each Fund issues and redeems Shares only in large blocks of Shares called “Creation Units.”

Most investors will buy and sell Shares of each Fund in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares of

each Fund that are listed for trading on the secondary market on the Exchange can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded shares. There is no minimum investment. Although Shares are generally purchased and sold in “round lots” of 50,000 Shares, brokerage firms typically permit investors to purchase or sell Shares in smaller “oddlots” at no per-share price differential.

When buying or selling Shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offer price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. In addition, because secondary market transactions occur at market prices, you may pay more than NAV when you buy Shares, and receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares.

The Funds’ Exchange trading symbols are as follows:

 

Fund

   Symbol

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares

   MDLL

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares

   MDSS

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares

   SMLL

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares

   SMSS

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

   SYTL

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

   SYTS

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

   TYTL

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

   TYTS

Share prices are reported in dollars and cents per Share.

Investors may acquire Shares directly from each Fund, and shareholders may tender their Shares for redemption directly to each Fund, only in Creation Units, as discussed in the “Creations, Redemptions and Transaction Fees” section below. A Creation Unit consists of 50,000 Shares.

For information about acquiring Shares through a secondary market purchase, please contact your broker. If you wish to sell Shares of a Fund on the secondary market, you must do so through your broker.

Book Entry. Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The DTC or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding Shares of the Funds and is recognized as the owner of all Shares for all purposes.

Investors owning Shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of the DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all Shares. Participants in the DTC include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have Shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of Shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants.

 

 

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These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other stocks that you hold in book entry or “street name” through your brokerage account.

ABOUT YOUR INVESTMENT

Share Price of the Funds

A Fund’s share price is known as its NAV. Each Fund’s share price is calculated as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (“Valuation Time”), each day the NYSE is open for business (“Business Day.”) The NYSE is open for business Monday through Friday, except in observation of the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. NYSE holiday schedules are subject to change without notice.

Except as discussed below, the Fixed Income Funds also calculate their NAVs as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE, usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time each Business Day. However, on days that the bond markets close all day, which currently include the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day (a “Bond Market Holiday”), the Fixed Income Funds do not calculate their NAVs, even if the NYSE is open for business. On such days, orders for purchase or redemption will receive the NAV next calculated on the following Business Day that is not a Bond Market Holiday. Similarly, on days that the bond markets close early, each Fixed Income Fund treats the portion of the day that the bond markets are closed as a Bond Market Holiday and calculates its NAV as of the recommended closing time for the bond markets, which may be before 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, subject to the discretion of the Adviser. In such instances, orders for purchase or redemption that are received prior to the close of bond markets will receive the NAV calculated at the time of the bond markets closure, whereas orders for purchase or redemption that are received thereafter will receive the NAV next calculated on the following Business Day that is not a Bond Market Holiday. The value of a Fund’s assets that trade in markets outside the United States or in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar may fluctuate on days that foreign markets are open but the Funds are not open for business.

If the exchange or market on which a Fund’s investments are primarily traded closes early, the NAV may be calculated prior to its normal calculation time. Creation/redemption transaction order time cutoffs would also be accelerated.

The value of a Fund’s assets that trade in markets outside the United States or in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may fluctuate when foreign markets are open but the Funds are not open for business.

Share price is calculated by dividing a Fund’s net assets by its shares outstanding. In calculating its NAV, each Fund

generally values its assets on the basis of market quotations, last sale prices, or estimates of value furnished by a pricing service or brokers who make markets in such instruments. If such information is not available for a security held by the Fund, is determined to be unreliable, or (to the Adviser’s knowledge) does not reflect a significant event occurring after the close of the market on which the security principally trades (but before the close of trading on the NYSE), the security will be valued at fair value estimates by the Adviser under guidelines established by the Board of Trustees. Foreign securities, currencies and other assets denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. Dollars at the exchange rate of such currencies against the U.S. Dollar, as provided by an independent pricing service or reporting agency. The Funds also rely on a pricing service in circumstances where the U.S. securities markets exceed a pre-determined threshold to value foreign securities held in the Fund’s portfolio. The pricing service, its methodology or the threshold may change from time to time. Debt obligations with maturities of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost.

Fair Value Pricing. Securities are priced at a fair value as determined by the Adviser, under the oversight of the Board of Trustees, when reliable market quotations are not readily available, the Funds’ pricing service does not provide a valuation for such securities, the Funds’ pricing service provides a valuation that in the judgment of the Adviser does not represent fair value, the Adviser believes that the market price is stale, or an event that affects the value of an instrument (a “Significant Event”) has occurred since closing prices were established, but before the time as of which the Funds calculate their NAVs. Examples of Significant Events may include: (1) events that relate to a single issuer or to an entire market sector; (2) significant fluctuations in domestic or foreign markets; or (3) occurrences not tied directly to the securities markets, such as natural disasters, armed conflicts, or significant government actions. If such Significant Events occur, the Funds may value the instruments at fair value, taking into account such events when it calculates each Fund’s NAV. Fair value determinations are made in good faith in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees. In addition, the Funds may also fair value an instrument if trading in a particular instrument is halted and does not resume prior to the closing of the exchange or other market.

Attempts to determine the fair value of securities introduce an element of subjectivity to the pricing of securities. As a result, the price of a security determined through fair valuation techniques may differ from the price quoted or published by other sources and may not accurately reflect the market value of the security when trading resumes. If a reliable market quotation becomes available for a security formerly valued through fair valuation techniques, Rafferty compares the market quotation to the fair value price to evaluate the effectiveness of the Funds’ fair valuation procedures and will use that market value in the next calculation of NAV.

 

 

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Rule 12b-1 Fees

The Board of Trustees of the Trust has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with the Plan, each Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year for certain distribution-related activities and shareholder services.

No 12b-1 fees are currently paid by any Fund, and there are no plans to impose these fees. However, in the event 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because the fees are paid out of each Fund’s assets, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges.

SHORT-TERM TRADING

Rafferty expects a significant portion of the Funds’ assets to come from professional money managers and investors who use the Funds as part of “asset allocation” and “market timing” investment strategies. These strategies often call for frequent trading to take advantage of anticipated changes in market conditions. Frequent trading of Shares could increase the rate of creations and redemptions of Shares and the Funds’ portfolio turnover, which could involve correspondingly adverse tax consequences to a Fund’s shareholders. Although the Funds reserve the right to reject any purchase orders or suspend the offering of Shares, the Funds do not currently impose any trading restrictions on frequent trading nor actively monitor for trading abuses.

CREATIONS, REDEMPTIONS AND TRANSACTION FEES

Creation Units. Investors such as market makers, large investors and institutions who wish to deal in Creation Units directly with a Fund must have entered into an authorized participant agreement with the principal underwriter and the transfer agent, or purchase through a dealer that has entered into such an agreement. These investors are known as “Authorized Participants.” Set forth below is a brief description of the procedures applicable to the purchase and redemption of Creation Units.

Purchase of Bull Funds. To purchase Creation Units directly from a Bull Fund, you must deposit with the Fund a basket of securities and/or cash. Each Business Day, prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange, an agent of the Fund (“Index Receipt Agent”) will make available through the NSCC a list of the names and number of shares of each security, if any, to be included in that day’s creation basket (“Deposit Securities”). The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities required for a Creation Unit will change from time to time. Each Bull Fund reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash—i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount—to be added to the Balancing Amount (defined below) to replace any Deposit Security that may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery, eligible for transfer through the clearing process (discussed below) or the Federal Reserve System or eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant

or the investor for which it is acting. For such custom orders, “cash in lieu” may be added to the Balancing Amount (defined below). The Balancing Amount and any “cash in lieu” must be paid to the Trust on or before the third Business Day following the Transmittal Date. You must also pay a Transaction Fee, described below, in cash.

In addition to the in-kind deposit of securities, Authorized Participants will either pay to, or receive from, a Bull Fund an amount of cash referred to as the “Balancing Amount.” The Balancing Amount is the amount equal to the differential, if any, between the market value of the Deposit Securities and the NAV of a Creation Unit. The Fund will publish, on a daily basis, information about the previous day’s Balancing Amount. The Balancing Amount may, at times, represent a significant portion of the aggregate purchase price (or, in the case of redemptions, the redemption proceeds). This is because the mark-to-market value of the financial instruments held by the Funds will be included in the Balancing Amount (not in the Deposit Basket or Redemption Basket). The Balancing Amount for the Bull Fund may fluctuate significantly due to the leveraged nature of the Bull Funds.

All purchase orders for Creation Units must be placed by or through an Authorized Participant. Purchase orders will be processed either through a manual clearing process run at the DTC (“Manual Clearing Process”) or through an enhanced clearing process (“Enhanced Clearing Process”) that is available only to those DTC participants that also are participants in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”). Authorized Participants that do not use the Enhanced Clearing Process will be charged a higher Transaction Fee (discussed below). A purchase order must be received in good order by the transfer agent by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, whether transmitted by mail, through the transfer agent’s automated system, telephone, facsimile or other means permitted under the Participant Agreement, in order to receive that day’s NAV per Share. All other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement must be followed in order for you to receive the NAV determined on that day.

Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Trust cash in an amount up to 115% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. Any such transaction effected with the Trust must be effected using the Manual Clearing Process consistent with the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement.

Purchase of Bear Funds. The Bear Funds only accept cash to purchase Creation Units. The purchaser must transfer cash in an amount equal to the value of the Creation Unit(s) purchased and the applicable Transaction Fee. All purchase orders will be processed through the Manual Clearing Process. The Trust will deliver Shares of a Bear Fund upon payment of cash to the Trust on or before the third Business Day following the Transmittal

 

 

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Date consistent with the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement.

Redemption from a Bull Fund. Redemption proceeds will be paid either in cash or in-kind with a basket of securities (“Redemption Securities”). In most cases, Redemption Securities will be the same as Deposit Securities on a given day. There will be times, however, when the Deposit and Redemption Securities differ. The composition of the Redemption Securities will be available through the NSCC. Each Fund reserves the right to honor a redemption request with a non-conforming redemption basket.

If the value of a Creation Unit is higher than the value of the Redemption Securities, you will receive from the Fund a Balancing Amount in cash. If the value of a Creation Unit is lower than the value of the Redemption Securities, you will be required to pay to the Fund a Balancing Amount in cash. If you are receiving a Balancing Amount, the amount due will be reduced by the amount of the applicable Transaction Fee.

As with purchases, redemptions may be processed either through the Manual Clearing Process or the Enhanced Clearing Process. A redemption order must be received in good order by the transfer agent by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, whether transmitted by mail, through the transfer agent’s automated system, telephone, facsimile or other means permitted under the Participant Agreement, in order to receive that day’s NAV per Share. All other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement must be followed in order for you to receive the NAV determined on that day.

An investor may request a redemption in cash, which the Bull Fund may in its sole discretion permit. Investors that elect to receive cash in lieu of one or more of the Redemption Securities are subject to an additional charge. Redemptions of Creation Units for cash (when available) and/or outside of the Enhanced Clearing Process also require the payment of an additional charge.

Redemption from a Bear Fund. Redemption proceeds will be paid in cash. As with purchases, redemptions may

be processed either through the Manual Clearing Process or the Enhanced Clearing Process. A redemption order must be received in good order by the transfer agent by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, whether transmitted by mail, through the transfer agent’s automated system, telephone, facsimile or other means permitted under the Participant Agreement in order to receive that day’s NAV per Share. All other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement must be followed in order for you to receive the NAV determined on that day.

Transaction Fees on Creation and Redemption Transactions. Each Fund will impose Transaction Fees to offset transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance and redemption of Creation Units. There is a fixed and a variable component to the total Transaction Fee on transactions in Creation Units. A fixed Transaction Fee is applicable to each creation and redemption transaction, regardless of the number of Creation Units transacted. A variable Transaction Fee based upon the value of each Creation Unit also is applicable to each redemption transaction. Purchasers and redeemers of Creation Units of the Funds effected through the Manual Clearing Process are required to pay an additional charge to compensate for brokerage and other expenses. In addition, purchasers of Creation Units are responsible for payment of the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the Trust. However, in no instance will the fees charged exceed 2% of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction. Redeemers of Creation Units are responsible for the costs of transferring securities from the Trust. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may pay additional fees for such services. In addition, Rafferty may, from time to time, at its own expense, compensate purchasers of Creation Units who have purchased substantial amounts of Creation Units and other financial institutions for administrative or marketing services.

The table below summarizes the components of the Transaction Fees.

 

 

Direxion Shares ETF Trust

   Fixed Transaction Fee     

Maximum Additional

Charge for

Purchases and

Redemptions*

   In-Kind    Cash     
   NSCC     

Outside NSCC

   Outside NSCC     

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bull 2X Shares

   $ 1,250       Up to 300% of NSCC Amount    $ 1,250       Up to 0.15%

Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 2X Shares

     N/A       N/A    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 2X Shares

   $ 250       Up to 300% of NSCC Amount    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 2X Shares

     N/A       N/A    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

   $ 250       Up to 300% of NSCC Amount    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

 

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     Fixed Transaction Fee     

Maximum Additional

Charge for

Purchases and

Redemptions*

     In-Kind    Cash     

Direxion Shares ETF Trust

   NSCC     

Outside NSCC

   Outside NSCC     

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

     N/A       N/A    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 2X Shares

   $ 250       Up to 300% of NSCC Amount    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 2X Shares

     N/A       N/A    $ 250       Up to 0.15%

 

* As a percentage of the amount invested.

 

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS

Rafferty provides investment management services to the Funds. Rafferty has been managing investment companies since 1997. Rafferty is located at 1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 35th Floor, New York, New York 10019. As of April 30, 2014, the Adviser had approximately $7.8 billion in assets under management.

Under an investment advisory agreement between the Trust and Rafferty, the Funds pay Rafferty fees at an annualized rate of 0.50% based on a percentage of each Fund’s average daily net assets.

A discussion regarding the basis on which the Board of Trustees approved the investment advisory agreements for the Funds will be available in the Trust’s Annual Report to shareholders for the fiscal period ended October 31, 2014.

Rafferty has entered into an Operating Expense Limitation Agreement with each Fund. Under this Operating Expense Limitation Agreement, Rafferty has contractually agreed to cap all or a portion of its management fee and/or reimburse the Fund for Other Expenses through September 1, 2015, to the extent that each Fund’s Total Annual Operating Expenses exceed 0.60% (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, taxes, leverage interest, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, dividends or interest on short positions, other interest expenses, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses such as litigation).

Any expense cap is subject to reimbursement by a Fund within the following three years only if overall expenses fall below these percentage limitations. Solely at Rafferty’s option and discretion, Rafferty may pay, reimburse or otherwise assume one or more of the excluded expenses, in which case such expense will be subject to reimbursement by Rafferty in accordance with the Operating Expense Limitation Agreement. This agreement may be terminated or revised at any time with the consent of the Board of Trustees.

Paul Brigandi, each Fund’s Portfolio Manager, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds. An investment trading team of Rafferty

employees assists Mr. Brigandi in the day-to-day management of the Funds subject to his primary responsibility and oversight. The Portfolio Manager works with the investment trading team to decide the target allocation of each Fund’s investments and on a day-to-day basis, an individual portfolio trader executes transactions for the Funds consistent with the target allocation. The members of the investment trading team rotate among the various series of the Trust, including the Funds periodically so that no single individual is assigned to a specific Fund for extended periods of time.

Mr. Brigandi has been a Portfolio Manager at Rafferty since June 2004. Mr. Brigandi was previously involved in the equity trading training program for Fleet Boston Financial Corporation from August 2002 to April 2004. Mr. Brigandi is a 2002 graduate of Fordham University.

The Funds’ Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides additional information about the investment team members’ compensation, other accounts they manage and their ownership of securities in the Funds.

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

A description of the Funds’ policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio securities is available in the Funds’ SAI.

OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS

Foreside Fund Services, LLC (“Distributor”) serves as the Funds’ distributor. U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC serves as the Funds’ administrator. Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) serves as the Funds’ transfer agent, custodian and index receipt agent. The Distributor is not affiliated with Rafferty or BNYM.

DISTRIBUTIONS

Fund Distributions. Each Fund pays out dividends from its net investment income, and distributes any net capital gains, if any, to its shareholders at least annually. Each Fund is authorized to declare and pay capital gain distributions in additional Shares or in cash. The Funds have extremely high portfolio turnover, which may cause them to generate significant amounts of taxable income. The Funds will generally need to distribute net short-term

 

 

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capital gain to satisfy certain tax requirements. As a result of the Funds’ high portfolio turnover, they could need to make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs.

Dividend Reinvestment Service. Brokers may make the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service (“Reinvestment Service”) available to their customers who are shareholders of a Fund. If the Reinvestment Service is used with respect to a Fund, its distributions of both net income and capital gains will automatically be reinvested in additional and fractional Shares thereof purchased in the secondary market. Without the Reinvestment Service, investors will receive Fund distributions in cash, except as noted above under “Fund Distributions.” To determine whether the Reinvestment Service is available and whether there is a commission or other charge for using the service, consult your broker. Fund shareholders should be aware that brokers may require them to adhere to specific procedures and timetables to use the Reinvestment Service.

TAXES

As with any investment, you should consider the tax consequences of buying, holding, and disposing of Shares. The tax information in this Prospectus is only a general summary of some important federal tax considerations generally affecting the Funds and their shareholders. No attempt is made to present a complete explanation of the federal tax treatment of the Funds’ activities, and this discussion is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Accordingly, potential investors are urged to consult their own tax advisers for more detailed information and for information regarding any state, local, or foreign taxes applicable to the Funds and to an investment in Shares.

Fund distributions to you and your sale of your Shares will have tax consequences to you unless you hold your Shares through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement arrangement, such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or 401(k) plan.

Each Fund intends to qualify each taxable year for taxation as a “regulated investment company.” If a Fund so qualifies and satisfies certain distribution requirements, the Fund will not be subject to federal income tax on income that is distributed in a timely manner to its shareholders in the form of income dividends or capital gain distributions.

Taxes on Distributions. Dividends from a Fund’s investment company taxable income – generally, the sum of net investment income, the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss, and net gains and losses from certain foreign currency transactions, if any, all determined without regard to any deduction for dividends paid – will be taxable to you as ordinary income

to the extent of its earnings and profits, whether they are paid in cash or reinvested in additional Shares. However, dividends a Fund pays to you that are attributable to its “qualified dividend income” (i.e., dividends it receives on stock of most domestic and certain foreign corporations with respect to which it satisfies certain holding period and other restrictions) generally will be taxed to you, if you are an individual, trust, or estate and satisfy those restrictions with respect to your Shares, for federal income tax purposes, at the rates of 15% for a single shareholder with taxable income not exceeding $406,750 ($457,600 for married shareholders filing jointly) and 20% for other such shareholders with taxable income exceeding those respective amounts (which will be indexed for inflation annually). A portion of a Fund’s dividends also may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction allowed to corporations – the eligible portion may not exceed the aggregate dividends the Fund receives from domestic corporations subject to federal income tax (excluding real estate investment trusts) and excludes dividends from foreign corporations – subject to similar restrictions; however, dividends a corporate shareholder deducts pursuant to that deduction are subject indirectly to the federal alternative minimum tax. None of the Funds expect to earn a significant amount of income that would qualify for those maximum rates or that deduction.

Distributions of a Fund’s net capital gain (which is the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) that it recognizes on sales or exchanges of capital assets (“capital gain distributions”), if any, will be taxable to you as long-term capital gains, at the maximum rates mentioned above if you are an individual, trust, or estate, regardless of your holding period for the Shares on which the distributions are paid and regardless of whether they are paid in cash or reinvested in additional Shares. A Fund’s capital gain distributions may vary considerably from one year to the next as a result of its investment activities and cash flows and the performance of the markets in which it invests. None of the Funds expects to earn a significant amount of net capital gain.

Distributions in excess of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, if any, first will reduce your adjusted tax basis in your Shares in that Fund and, after that basis is reduced to zero, will constitute capital gain. That capital gain will be long-term capital gain, and thus will be taxed at the maximum rates mentioned above if you are an individual, trust, or estate if the distributions are attributable to Shares you held for more than one year.

Investors should be aware that the price of Shares at any time may reflect the amount of a forthcoming dividend or capital gain distribution, so if they purchase Shares shortly before the record date therefor, they will pay full price for the Shares and receive some part of the purchase price back as a taxable distribution even though it represents a partial return of invested capital.

 

 

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In general, distributions are subject to federal income tax for the year when they are paid. However, certain distributions paid in January may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year.

Because of high portfolio turnover, the Funds may generate significant amounts of taxable income. Accordingly, the Funds may need to make larger and/or more frequent distributions than traditional unleveraged ETFs. A substantial portion of that income typically will be short-term capital gain, which will generally be treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders.

Fund distributions to tax-deferred or qualified plans, such as an IRA, retirement plan or pension plan, generally will not be taxable. However, distributions from such plans will be taxable to the individual participant notwithstanding the character of the income earned by the qualified plan. Please consult a tax adviser for a more complete explanation of the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of investing in a Fund through such a plan.

Taxes When Shares are Sold. Generally, you will recognize taxable gain or loss if you sell or otherwise dispose of your Shares. Any gain arising from such a disposition generally will be treated as long-term capital gain if you held the Shares for more than one year, taxable at the maximum rates (15%/20%) mentioned above if you are an individual, trust, or estate; otherwise, the gain will be treated as short-term capital gain. However, any capital loss arising from the disposition of Shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of capital gain distributions, if any, received with respect to those Shares. In addition, all or a portion of any loss recognized on a sale or exchange of Shares of a Fund will be disallowed to the extent other Shares of the same Fund are purchased (whether through reinvestment of distributions or otherwise) within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the date of the sale or exchange; in that event, the basis in the newly purchased Shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.

Holders of Creation Units. A shareholder who redeems a Creation Unit generally will recognize gain or loss to the same extent and in the same manner as described in the immediately preceding paragraph.

Miscellaneous. Backup Withholding. A Fund must withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury 28% of dividends and capital gain distributions otherwise payable to any individual or certain other non-corporate shareholder who fails to certify that the social security or other taxpayer identification number furnished to the Fund is correct or who furnishes an incorrect number (together with the withholding described in the next sentence, “backup withholding”). Withholding at that rate also is required from a Fund’s dividends and capital gain distributions

otherwise payable to such a shareholder who is subject to backup withholding for any other reason. Backup withholding is not an additional tax, and any amounts so withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s federal income tax liability or refunded.

Additional Tax. An individual must pay a 3.8% federal tax on the lesser of (1) the individual’s “net investment income,” which generally includes dividends, interest, and net gains from the disposition of investment property (including dividends and capital gain distributions a Fund pays and net gains realized on the sale or redemption of Shares), or (2) the excess of the individual’s “modified adjusted gross income” over a threshold amount ($250,000 for married persons filing jointly and $200,000 for single taxpayers). This tax is in addition to any other taxes due on that income. A similar tax will apply for those years to estates and trusts. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisers regarding the effect, if any, this provision may have on their investment in Fund shares.

Basis Determination. A shareholder who wants to use the average basis method for determining basis in Shares he or she acquires after December 31, 2011 (“Covered Shares”), must elect to do so in writing (which may be electronic) with the broker through which he or she purchased the Shares. A shareholder who wishes to use a different IRS-acceptable method for basis determination (e.g., a specific identification method) may elect to do so. Fund shareholders are urged to consult with their brokers regarding the application of the basis determination rules to them.

You may also be subject to state and local taxes on Fund distributions and dispositions of Shares.

Non-U.S. Shareholders. “A “non-U.S. shareholder” is an investor that, for federal tax purposes, is a nonresident alien individual, a foreign corporation or a foreign estate or trust. Except where discussed otherwise, the following disclosure assumes that a non-U.S. shareholder’s ownership of Shares is not effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by such non-U.S. shareholder in the United States and does not address non-U.S. shareholders who are present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year. The tax consequences to a non-U.S. shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty may be different from those described herein. Non-U.S. shareholders should consult their tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in a Fund.

Withholding. Dividends paid by a Fund to non-U.S. shareholders will be subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate or a reduced rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty to the extent derived from investment income (other than “qualified interest income” or “qualified short-term capital gains,” as described below). In order to obtain

 

 

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a reduced rate of withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will be required to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN (or substitute form) certifying its entitlement to benefits under a treaty. The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a non-U.S. shareholder who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the non-U.S. shareholder were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation’s earnings and profits attributable to such dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate).

A non-U.S. shareholder who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate. See the discussion of backup withholding under “Miscellaneous” above.

Exemptions from Withholding. In general, federal income tax will not apply to gain realized on the sale or other disposition of Shares or to any Fund distributions reported as capital gain dividends, short-term capital gain dividends, or interest-related dividends.

The exemption for short-term capital gain dividends and interest-related dividends applies only with respect to dividends with respect to a Fund’s current taxable year ending on or before October 31, 2014. “Short-term capital gain dividends” are dividends that are attributable to “qualified short-term gain” a Fund realizes (generally, the excess of a Fund’s net short-term capital gain over long-term capital loss for a taxable year, computed with certain adjustments). “Interest-related dividends” are dividends that are attributable to “qualified net interest income” from U.S. sources. Depending on its circumstances, a Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as short-term capital gain dividends and interest-related dividends and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. To qualify for the exemption, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN or substitute form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund designates the payment as a short-term capital gain dividend or an interest-related dividend. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). Under FATCA, “foreign financial institutions” (“FFIs”) or “non-financial foreign entities” (“NFFEs”) that are Fund shareholders may be subject to a generally nonrefundable 30% withholding tax on (1) income dividends a Fund pays

after June 30, 2014, and (2) certain capital gain distributions and the proceeds of a redemption of Shares a Fund pays after December 31, 2016. As discussed more fully in the Funds’ Statement of Additional Information under “Taxes,” the FATCA withholding tax generally can be avoided (a) by an FFI, if it reports certain information regarding direct and indirect ownership of financial accounts U.S. persons hold with the FFI and (b) by an NFFE, if (i) it certifies that it has no substantial U.S. persons as owners or (ii) it does have such owners and reports information relating to them to the withholding agent. The U.S. Treasury has negotiated intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs”) with certain countries and is in various stages of negotiations with other foreign countries with respect to one or more alternative approaches to implement FATCA; entities in those countries may be required to comply with the terms of the IGA instead of Treasury regulations. Non-U.S. shareholders should consult their own tax advisers regarding the application of these requirements to their own situation and the impact thereof on their investment in a Fund.

More information about taxes is in the Funds’ SAI.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

No financial information is available for the Funds because they had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus.

 

 

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PROSPECTUS