Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. has temporarily suspended new subscriptions for shares of two crude-oil ETFs in light of the “extreme volatility in crude oil markets.”
Horizons made the announcement on Tuesday, the morning after West Texas Intermediate closed at less than -$US37 per barrel.
All subscriptions into the two affected ETFs — the BetaPro Crude Oil 2x Daily Bull ETF (ticker: HOU) and the BetaPro Crude Oil -2x Daily Bear ETF (HOD) — that were received before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday were accepted, Horizons said, but new subscriptions are “suspended until further notice.”
Redemptions will continue to be accepted “in the normal course” while the suspension is in effect.
Horizons added that it expects sales of both ETFs will continue on the secondary market, but noted that offer prices are “not expected to be reflective of the underlying net asset values per share.”
“It is imperative to note that shares of the ETFs could be expected to trade at a substantial premium to their net asset value while subscriptions of shares are suspended,” Horizons said in the release.
Amended investment objectives
On Wednesday, Horizons announced amended investment objectives for both ETFs.
HOU, which normally aims to double the daily performance of the Solactive Light Sweet Crude Oil Front Month MD Rolling Futures Index ER, will now aim to correspond to 100% of the daily performance of the index.
HOD, which normally aims to correspond to (200%) the inverse of the daily performance of the Solactive index, will now aim to correspond to (100%) the inverse.
The changes take effect on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Horizons has also announced amended rolling methodologies for both funds. For full details, see the release from Horizons.