U.S. ETF Operator Tradr to Liquidate SK hynix Leveraged ETFs

Two U.S.-listed leveraged ETFs tied to SK hynix's stock price will be shut down roughly three months after being launched, according to Bloomberg on October 26. This comes after a significant drop in assets under management, which experts attribute to the decline in interest in AI-related investments. Tradr ETFs will cease operations for the 'SK hynix 2X Long' and 'SK hynix 2X Short' ETFs around November 12.

The two funds, which debuted on July 28, track the daily return of SK hynix's American Depositary Receipt (ADR) at twice the positive and inverse directions, respectively. Tradr plans to keep trading, creation, and redemption open until November 5 before closing the products on November 12 and liquidating their assets. The long ETF, betting on SK hynix's price increase, has dropped more than 5% since listing, while the short ETF, predicting a decline, has fallen 42%.

This loss occurs due to leveraged ETFs tracking twice the daily return, not the long-term return, leading to compounding effects when stock prices fluctuate. The combined assets under management of the two ETFs have plummeted more than 60%, currently sitting at about $1.3 million. SK hynix's ADR was listed on U.S. Nasdaq on July 10, sparking a wave of leveraged products from global operators like ProShares, Leverage Shares, and Direxion.

However, recent worries over profitability in the face of the AI industry's massive investments have dampened investor sentiment for semiconductor stocks. Bloomberg noted that this ETF liquidation signals a trend of waning interest in AI-related investments. The domestically listed SK hynix stock has fallen 56% from its all-time high.