ProShares Launches First S&P 500 ETFs That Exclude a Sector

ProShares, a premier provider of ETFs, today launched a suite of four S&P 500 Ex-Sector ETFs. Each offers the S&P 500^® without exposure to a sector: energy, financials, technology or health care.

“S&P 500 ETFs force you to invest in a sector you might already have a desired level of exposure to or you may want to avoid,” said Michael L. Sapir, co-founder and CEO of ProShare Advisors, LLC, the advisor to ProShares. “Now, for the first time, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF and leave behind the sector you don’t want.”

ProShares S&P 500 Ex-Sector ETFs allow investors to reduce or eliminate exposure to a sector they believe may underperform. For example, over the 12 months through the end of August, the energy sector underperformed the S&P 500 by over 30 percentage points.¹ Alternatively, an investor might already have enough exposure to a sector through work or other holdings and can use these ETFs to avoid that sector.

ProShares S&P 500 Ex-Sector ETFs include:

About the Indexes:

Each S&P 500 Ex-Sector Index seeks to provide exposure to the companies of the S&P 500 except those in the specific sector excluded. The S&P 500 is a measure of large-cap U.S. stock market performance. It is a float-adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index of 500 U.S. operating companies and real estate investment trusts selected through a process that factors in criteria such as liquidity, price, market capitalization and financial viability.

The indexes market-cap weight each component security according to the same rules as the S&P 500. They classify each company in the S&P 500 using S&P’s Global Industry Classification Standards (“S&P GICS”). The following sectors are included within S&P GICS: consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, telecommunication services and utilities. The portion represented by the excluded sector is redistributed among remaining S&P 500 companies on a pro rata basis.

About ProShares

ProShares helps investors to go beyond the limitations of conventional investing and face today's market challenges. ProShares strives to help investors build better portfolios by providing access to a wide variety of investment exposures and strategies delivered with the liquidity, transparency and cost effectiveness of ETFs. ProShares' wide array of ETFs can help you reduce volatility, manage risk and enhance returns.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. These ProShares ETFs are diversified and entail certain risks, including imperfect benchmark correlation and market price variance, that may decrease performance. Please see summary and full prospectuses for a more complete description of risks. There is no guarantee any ProShares ETF will achieve its investment objective.

These funds are exposed to the stocks of large-cap companies, which tend to go through cycles of outperformance or underperformance lasting up to several years relative to other segments of the stock market. As a result, large-cap returns may trail the returns of the overall stock market.

Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of ProShares before investing. This and other information can be found in their summary and full prospectuses. Read them carefully before investing.

The "S&P 500 Ex-Energy Index," "S&P 500 Ex-Financials Index," "S&P 500 Ex-Health Care Index," and "S&P 500 Ex-Information Technology & Telecommunication Services Index" are products of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and have been licensed for use by ProShares. "S&P" is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC ("S&P") and “Dow Jones" is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones") and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates. ProShares have not been passed on by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates as to their legality or suitability. ProShares based on these indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P or their respective affiliates, and they make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in ProShares. THESE ENTITIES AND THEIR AFFILIATES MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO PROSHARES.

ProShares are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co., which is not affiliated with the funds' advisor.

¹ Source: Bloomberg.

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