Yes I realised this. Cheers for looking into it. From the information below it says it tracks the actual S&P 500 using futures. I would say the correct way to describe it is the direct way; tracks the S&P 500 Futures by trading futures.
The BetaShares U.S. Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund - Currency Hedged (BBUS) is a managed investment fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to help investors profit from, or protect against, a declining U.S. share market. It seeks to generate magnified returns that are negatively correlated to the returns of the U.S. share market (as measured by the S& P 500 index), hedged to Australian dollars. Investment Strategy: The Fund will invest its assets into cash and cash equivalents and sell equity index futures contracts (i.e. S&P 500 futures). Selling S&P 500 futures can be expected to generate a positive return when the S&P 500 Index declines (and a negative return when the S&P 500 Index increases). As the Fund's futures positions are valued in U.S dollars, the Fund will be 'hedged' with the aim of substantially reducing the currency risk for Australian investors. Portfolio Exposure: Portfolio exposure represents the approximate exposure that the Fund will have, on any given day, to movements in the U.S. share market (as measured by the S&P 500 Index). The Fund's exposure to movements in the U.S. share market can be expected to vary between 200% to 275% short. Therefore a 1% fall in the U.S. share market on a given day can be expected to deliver a 2.0% to 2.75% increase in the value of the Fund (and vice versa).It has asset allocation for short US Equities.
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