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UDOW seeks three times the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s return for a single day, before fees and expenses. It is not a promise of three times the Dow’s return over a longer holding period. ProShares identifies UDOW as the only ETF targeting positive 3x daily Dow returns; its nearby Dow funds, DDM and SDOW, target positive 2x and negative 3x, respectively. That makes them alternatives with different exposures—not equivalent positive-3x competitors.
Compare the funds in this order: daily direction and leverage, current prospectus costs, dated spread and volume data, then the risks of daily resetting and derivatives. The figures below are issuer snapshots retrieved October 4, 2026, with trading data dated October 2 for UDOW and DDM and September 30 for SDOW.
How do UDOW, DDM, and SDOW differ?
The first comparison is what each fund is designed to do on a day, not its ticker or its place in a leveraged-fund category. ProShares describes UDOW as its positive 3x daily Dow ETF. Its two adjacent Dow leveraged funds take materially different positions.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match| Fund | Stated daily target | How it differs from UDOW |
|---|---|---|
| UDOW | +3x the Dow’s daily performance, before fees and expenses | Positive 3x exposure |
| DDM | +2x the Dow’s daily performance | Positive exposure, but lower daily leverage |
| SDOW | -3x the Dow’s daily performance | Inverse exposure: it seeks to move in the opposite direction on a daily basis |
ProShares calls UDOW the only ETF targeting positive 3x daily Dow returns in its materials. That is the issuer’s description, not an independently verified census of every listed ETF. See the [ProShares UDOW page], [DDM page], and [SDOW page] for the respective objectives.
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What do UDOW and the alternatives charge?
Issuer materials retrieved October 4, 2026, show the following annual operating expense ratios. Gross expenses are before waivers or reimbursements; net expenses reflect them. The displayed fund pages show contractual waivers through September 30, 2026, while UDOW’s current summary prospectus says its expenses before waivers and reimbursements are capped at 0.95% through September 30, 2027. Because the terms and dates differ, check each fund’s latest prospectus rather than treating the snapshots as a synchronized fee schedule.
| Fund | Gross expense ratio | Net expense ratio | Issuer material and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UDOW | 0.95% | 0.95% | ProShares summary prospectus retrieved October 4, 2026; expense cap through September 30, 2027 |
| DDM | 0.96% | 0.95% | ProShares fund-page snapshot retrieved October 4, 2026, with values current to October 2, 2026; displayed waiver through September 30, 2026 |
| SDOW | 0.97% | 0.95% | ProShares fund-page snapshot retrieved October 4, 2026; price and trading snapshot dated September 30, 2026; displayed waiver through September 30, 2026 |
For UDOW, the summary prospectus reports 0.95% gross and net annual fund operating expenses and explains that annual operating expenses do not include every cost. Brokerage charges and transaction and financing costs associated with securities and derivatives can add to what an investor pays. A small difference in the stated expense ratio therefore does not by itself establish which fund will have the lowest total cost for a particular trade or holding period.
How should you compare liquidity?
Use both trading volume and the bid-ask spread, and keep the dates attached to the figures. ProShares reported these observations on its fund pages:
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| Fund | Trading volume | 30-day median bid-ask spread | Trading-data date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UDOW | 1,957,012 shares | 0.03% | October 2, 2026 |
| DDM | 198,104 shares | 0.05% | October 2, 2026 |
| SDOW | 3,612,107 shares | 0.04% | September 30, 2026 |
The dates are not identical, and both volume and spreads change. These figures are snapshots, not permanent rankings. Volume indicates how many shares traded in the period reported; it does not guarantee that a specific order can be filled at a particular price. A spread is the gap between the quoted buying and selling prices, and can vary with market conditions and order size. For a live comparison, inspect current quotes and consider using limit orders rather than assuming that a historical average spread will apply to your trade.
Why can a 3x daily target produce a different long-term return?
UDOW’s objective applies to one day. Its prospectus says it does not seek three times the index’s performance for any period other than a day. At each daily reset, the fund’s exposure is adjusted to pursue the next day’s target; the sequence of daily gains and losses compounds. As a result, the return over several days or months can differ substantially from three times the Dow’s return over that same period.
Volatility matters because the order and size of daily moves affect compounding. In a choppy market, repeated gains and losses can erode a leveraged fund’s value even if the index ends near where it began. The SEC’s August 29, 2023 Investor Bulletin illustrates the horizon risk with an example from another index: an index gain of 2% over four months alongside a leveraged ETF loss of 6%. That is an illustration, not a UDOW result or forecast. ProShares and the SEC both caution that past performance does not predict future results.
Can UDOW lose money if the Dow rises?
Yes. A rise in the Dow over a multi-day holding period does not ensure a gain in UDOW. Daily resetting, volatility, and the path the index takes can leave a leveraged ETF with a loss even when the index’s overall holding-period return is positive. The same daily-reset issue applies to DDM and SDOW, although their daily objectives have different leverage and direction.
What other risks belong in the comparison?
The expense ratio and spread are only parts of the risk and cost picture. ProShares’ prospectus and fund materials describe leveraged exposure pursued through financial instruments, including derivatives, and daily rebalancing. Consider these risks alongside the objective and trading data:
Quick Recap
- Losses and leverage: Leverage magnifies the effect of daily index moves. You can lose money, including when the index’s longer-period performance does not match the daily pattern the fund is designed to track.
- Derivatives, financing, and counterparties: The strategy involves financial instruments and can be affected by financing costs, derivative performance, and counterparty risk. These costs and risks are not fully represented by the annual operating expense ratio.
- Tracking and rebalancing: The fund’s daily result may not equal its target exactly, and compounding means its multi-day result is not simply the daily multiple applied to the index’s total return.
- Market price versus NAV: ETF shares trade at market prices that may differ from net asset value. That difference can affect the price at which an investor buys or sells.
- Holding period: A daily leveraged or inverse objective is not a long-term performance target. The longer the holding period and the more volatile the path, the less useful it is to infer results by multiplying the index’s cumulative return by the stated daily leverage.
A practical way to choose what to compare
- Match the exposure first. If you are evaluating positive 3x daily Dow exposure, UDOW is the relevant product in ProShares’ materials. DDM is positive 2x, while SDOW is inverse 3x.
- Read the current prospectus for each fund. Confirm the precise daily objective, current gross and net expenses, waiver or cap terms, and stated risks. Do not assume dates shown in older page snapshots remain current.
- Compare contemporaneous trading data. Review current bid and ask quotes, spread, and volume close to the time you plan to trade; the dated figures above cannot establish today’s execution conditions.
- Evaluate the intended holding period and loss tolerance. Consider how daily resetting and volatility could affect results over your planned period, rather than treating the daily multiple as a multi-day promise.
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