485BPOS 1 d140435d485bpos.htm 485BPOS 485BPOS

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2016

1933 Act File No. 333-150525

1940 Act File No. 811-22201

UNITED STATES

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.

  

        160        

   [  X  ]
    

      and/or      

  
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940    [  X  ]
        Amendment No.     

        162        

   [  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   Eric S. Purple
Rafferty Asset Management, LLC   K&L Gates LLP
1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue)   1601 K Street, NW
35th Floor   Washington, DC 20006
New York, New York 10019  

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

[  X  ]       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)

[       ]       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:

Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for the funds listed below under Appendix A;

Part C of Form N-1A;

Signature Page; and

Exhibit.


Appendix A

 

 

Direxion Daily Frontier 100 Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Consumer Staples Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Consumer Discretionary Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Energy Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Financial Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Industrials Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Materials Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Technology Bear 1X Shares

Direxion Daily Utilities Bear 1X Shares

 


Direxion Shares ETF Trust
Prospectus
1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 35th Floor New York, New York 10019 866-476-7523
www.direxioninvestments.com
1X BEAR FUNDS
Direxion Daily Frontier 100 Bear 1X Shares
Direxion Daily Consumer Staples Bear 1X Shares
Direxion Daily Consumer Discretionary Bear 1X Shares
Direxion Daily Energy Bear 1X Shares (ERYY)
Direxion Daily Financial Bear 1X Shares (FAZZ)
Direxion Daily Industrials Bear 1X Shares
Direxion Daily Materials Bear 1X Shares
Direxion Daily Technology Bear 1X Shares (TECZ)
Direxion Daily Utilities Bear 1X Shares
March 29, 2016
The funds offered in this prospectus (each a “Fund” and collectively the “Funds”) trade, or upon commencement of operations will trade, on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”).
The Funds seek daily inverse investment results and are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles. Each Fund attempts to provide investment results that correspond to the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of its underlying index.
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) Each Fund pursues a daily investment objective that is inverse to the performance of its underlying index, a result opposite of most mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
(2) The Funds seek daily inverse investment results that are subject to compounding and market volatility risk. The pursuit of their daily investment objective means that the return of a Fund for a period longer than a full trading day will be the product of a series of daily returns, with daily repositioned exposure, for each trading day during the relevant period. As a consequence, especially in periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect a Fund’s return as much or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 inverse investment objective and the performance of the underlying index for the full trading day. During periods of high volatility, the Funds may not perform as expected and the Funds may have losses when an investor may have expected gains if the Funds are held for a period that is different than one 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 consequences of seeking daily inverse investment results;
(b) understand the risk of shorting; and
(c) 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 daily inverse investment objective and an investment in a Fund could lose money. No single Fund is a complete investment program.
These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or 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 Section 1
Direxion Daily Frontier Bear 1X Shares 1
Direxion Daily Consumer Staples Bear 1X Shares 8
Direxion Daily Consumer Discretionary Bear 1X Shares 14
Direxion Daily Energy Bear 1X Shares 20
Direxion Daily Financial Bear 1X Shares 26
Direxion Daily Industrials Bear 1X Shares 32
Direxion Daily Materials Bear 1X Shares 38
Direxion Daily Technology Bear 1X Shares 44
Direxion Daily Utilities Bear 1X Shares 50
Overview of the Funds 56
Additional Information Regarding Investment Techniques and Policies 56
Additional Information Regarding Principal Risks 63
How to Buy and Sell Shares 72
About Your Investment 72
Share Price of the Funds 72
Short-Term Trading 73
Creations, Redemptions and Transaction Fees 73
Management of the Funds 74
Portfolio Holdings 75
other service providers 75
Distributions 75
Taxes 76
Additional Information 78
Index Licensors 78
Financial Highlights 79
More Information on the Direxion Shares Etf Trust Back Cover

 

Summary Section
Direxion Daily Frontier Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Frontier Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by MSCI Inc. (the “Index Provider”). The Index is based on the MSCI Frontier Markets Investable Market Index (the “IMI”). The Index aims to reflect the performance of frontier markets, but more strongly
 
 
1 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

emphasizes tradability by applying an investability screen of the IMI to determine those constituents eligible for inclusion in the Index. Frontier market countries are those emerging market countries that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid. Constituents of the Index must: 1) have a minimum liquidity level; 2) exhibit sufficient foreign room; and 3) have a higher minimum free float-adjusted market capitalization compared to the IMI. Foreign room is defined as the proportion of shares still available to foreign investors relative to the maximum allowed. Additionally, a country cap of 40% is applied to the cumulative weight of the two largest countries in the Index to avoid overweighting in any one country. The Index is reviewed semi-annually in May and November.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index consisted of 103 constituents with an average market capitalization of approximately $758.8 million and market capitalizations ranging from $68.3 million to $5.4 billion. The Index consisted of issuers in the following frontier countries as of February 29, 2016: Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vietnam. As of February 29, 2016, components of the Index were concentrated in the financials and telecommunication services sectors.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed.
Authorized Participants Concentration Risk The Fund may have a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that those Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation and/or redemption orders, Shares may trade at a discount to net asset value.
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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 2

 

to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller
gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the
3 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

  number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance
for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 9.51%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 12.00% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was -0.02%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 4

 

Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
Financials Sector Risk The Fund may invest in , and/or have exposure to, financial services companies. Performance of companies in the financials sector may be materially impacted by many factors, including but not limited to, government regulations, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, changes in interest rates and decreased liquidity in credit markets. Profitability of these companies is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital, and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of borrowers also can negatively impact the sector. This sector has experienced significant losses in the recent past, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements and recent or future regulation on any individual company of the sector as a whole cannot be predicted.
Foreign Securities Risk Investing in, and/or having exposure to, foreign instruments may involve greater risks than investing in domestic instruments. As a result, the Fund’s returns and net asset value may be affected to a large degree by fluctuations in currency exchange rates, political, diplomatic or economic conditions and regulatory requirements in other countries. The laws and accounting, auditing, and financial reporting standards in foreign countries typically are not as strict as they are in the U.S., and there may be less public information available about foreign companies.
Frontier Markets Risk Investing in, and/or having exposure to, frontier markets involves greater risks than investing in foreign instruments in general. Frontier markets are those emerging markets that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid and as a result, may be more likely to experience inflation risk, political turmoil and rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed and traditional emerging markets. Investments in frontier markets may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in more developed and traditional emerging markets. Frontier markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, unreliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities. Economic, political, liquidity and currency risks are more pronounced with respect to investments in frontier markets than in emerging markets.
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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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.
International Closed-Market Trading Risk Because the Fund may invest in and/or have exposure to investments that may be traded in markets that are closed when the NYSE Arca, Inc. is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current value of an underlying investment and last sale pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market), resulting in premiums or discounts to net asset value that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.
Intra-Day Investment Risk - The Fund seeks 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
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Micro-Capitalization Company Risk - Stock prices of micro-cap companies are significantly more volatile, and more vulnerable to adverse business and economic developments than those of larger companies. In addition, micro-cap companies often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies, including companies which are considered small- or mid-capitalization. Furthermore, micro-cap companies often have limited product lines, services, markets, financial resources or are dependent on a small management group. 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. 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 as 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 , and/or having exposure to, 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, the performance of small- and/or mid-capitalization companies can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.
Technology and Telecommunications Sectors Risk The Fund invests in, and/or has exposure to, companies that serve the electronics, software, IT services, computer and telecommunications equipment and services industries or that manufacture products based on the latest applied science. The market prices of technology and/or telecommunications-related securities tend to exhibit a greater degree of market risk and sharp price fluctuations than other types of securities. These securities may fall in and out of favor with investors rapidly, which may cause sudden selling and dramatically lower market prices. Technology and telecommunications securities also may be affected adversely by changes in technology, consumer and business purchasing patterns, government regulation and/or obsolete products or services. In addition, a rising interest rate environment tends to negatively affect technology and telecommunications companies.
Valuation Time Risk The Fund values its portfolio as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time). In some cases, foreign markets may close before the New York Stock Exchange opens or may not be open for business on the same calendar days as the Fund. As a result, the performance of a fund that tracks a foreign market index or an index that includes foreign securities can vary from the performance of that index.
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Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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 Consumer Staples Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Consumer Staples Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Consumer Staples Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the consumer staples sector which includes the following industries: food & staples retailing; household products; food products; beverages; tobacco; and personal products. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector
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Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated by the Index Provider using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 38 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $24.7 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $10.7 billion to $218.4 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the consumer staples sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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.
Consumer Staples Sector Risk The consumer staples sector may be affected by the permissibility of using various food additives and production methods, changing consumer tastes, marketing campaigns and other factors affecting consumer demand. In particular, tobacco companies may be adversely affected by new laws, regulations and litigation. The consumer staples sector may also be adversely affected by changes or trends in commodity prices, which may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors.
Counterparty Risk The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. In addition, the Fund may enter into
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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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
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Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the
impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 11.95%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 14.72% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was 14.80%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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.
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. Additionally, active market trading
11 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Mid-Capitalization Company Risk - Investing in , and/or having exposure to, the securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more established, larger-capitalization companies. 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. The Fund may also seek inverse or “short” exposure through the use of derivatives such as swap agreements or futures contracts, which may expose
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 12

 

the Fund to certain risks such as 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.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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.
13 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

Direxion Daily Consumer Discretionary Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Consumer Discretionary Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the consumer discretionary sector which includes the following industries: media; retail (specialty, multiline, internet & catalog); hotels, restaurants & leisure; textiles, apparel & luxury goods; household durables; automobiles; auto components; distributors; leisure equipment & products; and diversified consumer services. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 14

 

is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated by the Index Provider using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 86 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $11.3 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $2.3 billion to $259 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the consumer discretionary sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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.
Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk The Fund may invest in, and/or have exposure to, the securities of companies in the consumer discretionary sector. Because companies in the consumer discretionary sector manufacture products and provide discretionary services directly to the consumer, the success of these companies is tied closely to the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rates, competition and consumer confidence. Success depends heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending. Changes in demographics and consumer tastes also can affect the demand for, and success of, consumer discretionary products in the marketplace.
Counterparty Risk The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties for the purpose of attempting to gain inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable
15 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities.
Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 16

 

  the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated
given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 16.64%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 24.27% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was 17.83%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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
17 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

Funds” in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. 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 as 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
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derivatives or other financial instruments may be considered an aggressive investment technique.
Small- and/or Mid-Capitalization Company Risk Investing in , and/or having exposure to, 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, the performance of small- and/or mid-capitalization companies can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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 Energy Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Energy Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Energy Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Energy Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the energy sector which includes the following industries: oil, gas and consumable fuels; and energy equipment and services. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated by the Index Provider
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 20

 

using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 41 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $11.7 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $1.7 billion to $333.7 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the energy sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result
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that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 22

 

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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 22.20%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 33.68% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was -0.29%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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.
Energy Sector Risk The Fund invests in , and/or has exposure to, companies that engage in energy-related businesses and companies primarily involved in the production and mining of coal, develop and produce oil, gas and consumable fuels and provide drilling and other energy resources production and distribution related services. As a result, the Fund is subject to risks of legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions and/or increased competition affecting the energy sector. The prices of the securities of energy and energy services companies may fluctuate widely due to the supply and demand, exploration and production spending, world events and economic conditions, swift price and supply fluctuations, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities and tax and other governmental regulatory policies and
23 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

legislation. Weak demand for energy companies’ products or services or for energy products and services in general, as well as negative developments in these other areas, including natural disaster and terrorist attacks, impact energy company securities.
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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. 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 as 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
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 24

 

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 , and/or having exposure to, 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, the performance of small- and/or mid-capitalization companies can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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 Financial Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Financial Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Financials Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Financials Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the financials sector which includes the following industries: banks, insurance, real estate investment trusts, capital markets and diversified financial services. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 26

 

calculated by the Index Provider using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 89 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $17.6 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $3.1 billion to $330.7 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the financials sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result
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that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 28

 

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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 20.92%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 34.32% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was 10.41%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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.
Financials Sector Risk The Fund may invest in , and/or have exposure to, financial services companies. Performance of companies in the financials sector may be materially impacted by many factors, including but not limited to, government regulations, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, changes in interest rates and decreased liquidity in credit markets. Profitability of these companies is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital, and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of borrowers also can negatively impact the sector. This sector has experienced significant losses in the recent past, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements and recent or future regulation on any individual company of the sector as a whole cannot be predicted.
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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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Mid-Capitalization Company Risk - Investing in , and/or having exposure to, the securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more established, larger-capitalization companies. 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 30

 

that lent the security. 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 as 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.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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 Industrials Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Industrials Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Industrials Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Industrials Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the industrials sector which includes the following industries: aerospace and defense, industry conglomerates and machinery. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated by the Index Provider
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 32

 

using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 65 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $14.1 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $3 billion to $275 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the industrials sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result
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that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 34

 

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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 17.79%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 27.29% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was 11.20%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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.
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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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
35 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.
Industrials Sector Risk The Fund may invest in, and/or have exposure to, the securities of companies in the industrials sector. Stock prices of issuers in the industrial sector are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrials sector products in general. Government regulation, world events and economic conditions will also affect the performance of investment in such issuers. Aerospace and defense companies, a component of the industrials sector, can be significantly affected by governments spending policies because companies involved in this industry rely to a significant extent on U.S. and other government demand for their products and services. Thus, the financial condition of, and investor interest in, aerospace and defense companies are heavily influenced by government defense spending policies which are typically under pressure from efforts to the control government spending budgets. Transportation companies, another component of the industrials sector, are subject to cyclical performance and therefore investment in such companies may experience occasional sharp price movements which may result from changes in the economy, fuel prices, labor agreements and insurance costs.
Intra-Day Investment Risk - The Fund seeks 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Mid-Capitalization Company Risk - Investing in , and/or having exposure to, the securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more established, larger-capitalization companies. 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse investment objective, the Fund may engage in short sales which are
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 36

 

designed to provide the Fund gains when the price of a particular security, basket of securities or index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. 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 as 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.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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.
37 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

Direxion Daily Materials Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Materials Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Materials Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Materials Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the materials sector which includes the following industries: chemicals and metals and mining. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated by the Index Provider using a modified “market
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 38

 

capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 27 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $11.7 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $2.4 billion to $54.7 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the materials sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result
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that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 40

 

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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 20.04%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 30.67% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was 4.92%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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.
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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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). 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
41 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

instruments were reflected, the calculated portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.
Intra-Day Investment Risk - The Fund seeks 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Materials Sector Risk The Fund may invest in, and/or have exposure to, the securities of companies in the materials sector. Companies in the materials sector could be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rate import controls and increased competition. The production of industrial materials often exceeds demand as a result of over-building or economic downturns, leading to poor investment returns. Companies in the materials sector also are at risk for environmental damage and product liability claims, and may be materially affected by depletion of
resources, technical progress, labor relations, and governmental regulations.
Mid-Capitalization Company Risk - Investing in , and/or having exposure to, the securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more established, larger-capitalization companies. 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. The Fund may also seek inverse or “short” exposure through the use of derivatives such as swap agreements or futures contracts, which may expose
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 42

 

the Fund to certain risks such as 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.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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.
43 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

Direxion Daily Technology Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Technology Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Technology Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Technology Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the technology sector which includes the following industries: computers & peripherals; software; diversified telecommunications services; communications equipment; semiconductors & semi-conductor equipment; internet software & services; IT services; electronic equipment, instruments & components; wireless telecommunication services; and office electronics. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 44

 

with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated by the Index Provider using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 73 stocks. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $17.3 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $3.3 billion to $539.1 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the information technology and telecommunication services sectors.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions
45 Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus

 

with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Prospectus 46

 

  of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
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 -100%, before fees and expenses, 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 the Index’s daily losses or reducing exposure in response to the Index’s daily gains. This means that for a period longer than one single day, the pursuit of a daily investment objective may result in daily compounding. It also means that the return of the Index over a period of time greater than one single day multiplied by the Fund’s daily target of -100% generally will not equal the Fund’s performance over that same period. If adverse daily performance of the 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 the 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 of -100% of the return of the Index due to the compounding effect of losses and gains on the returns of the Fund. It also is expected that the Fund will underperform the inverse return of the 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 chart below provides examples of how Index volatility could affect the Fund’s performance. Fund performance for periods greater than one single day can be estimated given any set of assumptions for the following factors: a) Index volatility; b) Index performance; c) period of time; d) financing rates associated with inverse exposure; e) other Fund expenses; and f) dividends or interest paid with respect to securities in the Index. The chart below illustrates the impact of two principal factors Index volatility and Index performance on Fund performance. The chart shows estimated Fund returns for a number of combinations of Index volatility and Index performance over a one-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 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 the chart below, the Fund would be expected to lose 6.04% if the 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 42.9%.
At higher ranges of volatility, there is a chance of a significant loss of value in the Fund, even if the Index is flat. For instance, if the Index’s annualized volatility is 100%, the Fund would be expected to lose 63.23% of its value, even if the cumulative Index return for the year was 0%.
One Year
Index
-100%
One
Year
Index
Volatility Rate
Return Return 10% 25% 50% 75% 100%
-60% 60% 148.55% 134.42% 95.28% 43.98% -5.83%
-50% 50% 99.13% 87.77% 56.26% 15.23% -24.77%
-40% 40% 66.08% 56.57% 30.21% -4.08% -37.57%
-30% 30% 42.43% 34.25% 11.56% -17.98% -46.76%
-20% 20% 24.67% 17.47% -2.47% -28.38% -53.72%
-10% 10% 10.83% 4.44% -13.28% -36.52% -58.79%
0% 0% -0.25% -6.04% -22.08% -42.90% -63.23%
10% -10% -9.32% -14.64% -29.23% -48.27% -66.67%
20% -20% -16.89% -21.75% -35.24% -52.72% -69.67%
30% -30% -23.29% -27.84% -40.25% -56.41% -71.94%
40% -40% -28.78% -33.01% -44.63% -59.81% -74.32%
50% -50% -33.55% -37.52% -48.57% -62.60% -76.19%
60% -60% -37.72% -41.51% -51.96% -65.19% -78.12%
The Index’s annualized historical volatility rate for the five year period ended December 31, 2015 was 15.98%. The Index’s highest volatility rate for any one calendar year during the five-year period was 22.85% and volatility for a shorter period of time may have been substantially higher. The Index’s annualized performance for the five-year period ended December 31, 2015 was 13.40%. Historical Index volatility and performance are not indications of what the Index volatility and performance will be in the future. The volatility of ETFs or instruments that reflect the value of the Index, such as swaps, may differ from the volatility of the Index.
For information regarding 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.
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. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares on such exchanges as the NYSE Arca, Inc., could cause more frequent creation and redemption activities which could increase the number of portfolio transactions. Frequent and active trading may lead to 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
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(which will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income when distributed to them). 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 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 loses value, the Fund’s net assets will rise by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Conversely, if the Index rises, the Fund’s net assets will decline by the same amount as the Fund’s exposure. Since the Fund starts each trading day with exposure which is -100% 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 -$100 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 1% and the net assets will rise by $1 to $101. With net assets of $101 and exposure of 1%, a purchaser at that point would be receiving -98% exposure of her investment instead of -100%.
Investment Risk An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them.
Liquidity Risk Some securities held by the Fund, including derivatives, may be difficult to sell or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the U.S. 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 materially 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.
Mid-Capitalization Company Risk - Investing in , and/or having exposure to, the securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risks and the possibility of greater price volatility than investing in more established, larger-capitalization companies. 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.
Money Market Instrument Risk The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Money market funds may be subject to credit risk with respect to the short-term debt instruments in which they invest. Depository accounts may be subject to credit risk with respect to the financial institution in which the depository account is held. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. There is no guarantee that money market instruments will maintain a stable value, and they may lose money.
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 net asset value and total return may fluctuate more or fall greater in times of weaker markets than a diversified mutual fund.
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 inverse 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 index declines. When the Fund shorts securities, including securities of another investment company, it borrows shares of that security or investment company, which it then sells. The Fund closes out a short sale by purchasing the security that it has sold short and returning that security to the entity that lent the security. 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 as 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
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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.
Technology and Telecommunications Sectors Risk The Fund invests in, and/or has exposure to, companies that serve the electronics, software, IT services, computer and telecommunications equipment and services industries or that manufacture products based on the latest applied science. The market prices of technology and/or telecommunications-related securities tend to exhibit a greater degree of market risk and sharp price fluctuations than other types of securities. These securities may fall in and out of favor with investors rapidly, which may cause sudden selling and dramatically lower market prices. Technology and telecommunications securities also may be affected adversely by changes in technology, consumer and business purchasing patterns, government regulation and/or obsolete products or services. In addition, a rising interest rate environment tends to negatively affect technology and telecommunications companies.
Special Risks of Exchange-Traded Funds
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 they trade, 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 net asset value and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their net asset value. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in creation units, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of Shares should not be sustained. There may, however, be times when the market price and the net asset value vary significantly and you may pay more than net asset value when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than net asset value when you sell those Shares. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily net asset value 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.direxioninvestments.com/etfs?producttab=performance or by calling the Fund toll-free at 866-476-7523.
Management
Investment Adviser. Rafferty Asset Management, LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers. The following members of Rafferty’s investment team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund:
Portfolio Managers Years of Service with the Fund Primary Title
Paul Brigandi Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Tony Ng Since Inception Portfolio Manager
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable. The Fund will issue and redeem Shares 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 and may incur brokerage costs. Because the Shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value, Shares may trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (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 of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund and/or its Adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund 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 Utilities Bear 1X Shares
Important Information Regarding the Fund
The Direxion Daily Utilities Bear 1X Shares (“Fund”) seeks daily inverse investment results. The pursuit of daily inverse investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may have no resemblance to -100% 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 each trading day’s daily returns. During periods of market volatility, the volatility of the underlying index may affect the Fund’s return as much as or more than the return of the underlying index. 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 investment objective 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 100% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the Utilities Select Sector Index. The Fund seeks daily inverse 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 inverse investment results, understand the risks associated with shorting and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. 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 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees(1) 0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses of the Fund(2) 0.21%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.56%
Expense Cap/Reimbursement(1) -0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Cap/Reimbursement 0.45%
(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, 2017, to the extent that the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.45% of the Fund’s daily net assets (excluding, as applicable, among other expenses, management fees, Rule 12b-1 distribution and/or service fees, Management Services Fees, any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, taxes, swap financing and related costs, 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 or other expenses outside the typical day-to-day operations of the Fund).  
    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.
Example - This 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
$46 $168
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 Strategy
The Fund, under normal circumstances, creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its assets in: swap agreements; futures contracts; options; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the Utilities Select Sector Index (“Index”). On a day-to-day basis, the Fund invests the remainder of its assets in money market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality credit ratings or 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 Fund does not invest in long equity securities.
The Index is provided by S&P Dow Jones Indices (the “Index Provider”) and includes domestic companies from the utilities sector which includes the following industries: electric utilities; multi-utilities; independent power producers & energy trades; and gas utilities. The Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the stocks in the Index is also a constituent company of the S&P 500® Index; (2) each constituent in the S&P 500® Index is assigned to at least one of the Select Sector Indexes; and (3) the Index is calculated
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by the Index Provider using a modified “market capitalization” methodology, which is a hybrid between equal weighting and conventional capitalization weighting with the weighting capped for the largest stocks included in the Index. This design ensures that each of the component stocks within a Select Sector Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of such Select Sector Index.
As of February 29, 2016, the Index was comprised of 29 constituents. As of February 29, 2016, the companies included in the Index had a median total market capitalization of $17.2 billion. Component securities had total market capitalizations ranging from $3.4 billion to $52 billion as of February 29, 2016. As of February 29, 2016, the Index was concentrated in the utilities sector.
The components of the Index and the percentages represented by various sectors in the Index may change over time. The Fund will concentrate its investment (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide inverse exposure to 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.
Generally the Fund may gain inverse exposure to the Index by utilizing swap contracts on ETFs that track the same Index or a substantially similar index as the Fund that provide short exposure. At times, however, the Fund will utilize other derivatives and investment strategies which may include gaining inverse 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 provide inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. Derivatives 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 meet its investment objective.
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 may result 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 -100% 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.
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. Rafferty cannot guarantee that the Fund will achieve its inverse 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 may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. There is the risk that you could lose all or a portion of your money invested in the Fund.
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, 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 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 inverse exposure to a particular group of securities or an asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments. The use of financial instruments, such as swap agreements, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount it is entitled to receive. 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 are 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 inverse investment objective.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation/Tracking Risk - Shareholders should lose money when the Index rises, which is a result
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that is the opposite from traditional index tracking funds. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of inverse correlation to the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. To achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index, the Fund seeks to rebalance its portfolio daily to be consistent with its daily inverse investment objective. The Fund may have difficulty achieving its daily inverse 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 the 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 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 the 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 the 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 investment objective.
Derivatives Risk The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including risk related to leverage, imperfect daily correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly shorting the underlying securities. Investments in such derivatives may generally be subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time and may increase the volatility of the Fund. 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. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
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 same or a substantially similar 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 an underlying reference asset, the Fund may be subject to greater correlation risk and may not achieve as high a degree of inverse correlation with the Index as it would if the Fund used swaps that utilized the Index as an underlying reference asset. Any financing, borrowing or other costs associated with using derivatives may also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. Moreover, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, 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 investment objective. This may prevent the Fund from achieving its inverse investment objective, even if the Index reverses all of a portion of its movement.
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
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 assets 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. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty, valuation and leveraging risks.
Futures Contracts. Futures contracts are typically exchange traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. 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. In addition, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction due to an illiquid market. Exchanges may also limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its inverse investment strategy. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund. Futures are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
Options. Options give the holder of the option the right to buy (or sell) a position in a security to the writer of the option, at a certain price. There may be an imperfect correlation between the prices of options and movements in the price of the securities (or indices) used for cover which may cause the Fund not to achieve its inverse investment objective. Exchanges may limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or the Adviser, thus limiting the ability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy. Options are also subject to leverage and liquidity risks.
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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 fi