Direxion Benchmark Change Creates Only Long/Short, Index-Based Pure Currency Mutual Fund

BOSTON, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Direxion, a leader in liquid alternative investment solutions, is announcing that the Direxion Currency Trends Strategy Fund (formerly the Financial Trends Strategy Fund) has changed its benchmark from the Alpha Financial Technologies Financial Trends Indicator to the pure currency index the FX Trends Indicator ™ ("FXTI").

The Direxion Currency Trends Strategy Fund seeks to replicate investment results comparable to the performance of the FXTI. The Fund's index-based investment strategy is a quantitative rules-based long/short trend-following approach to currency investing.  It provides exposure to 11 global currencies, including those of developed markets, emerging markets and commodity-based countries that may independently profit from a rise or fall in the U.S. dollar.

The Fund's strategy is rooted in the benefits that currency investments provide investors. Currency markets are highly liquid, have shown similar volatility levels to those of fixed income, and their investment returns typically have low correlation to more traditional equity and fixed income markets.

"Changing the benchmark provides increased access to a broad basket of global currencies in one investment vehicle," said Edward Egilinsky, Managing Director, and Head of Alternative Investments at Direxion. "Currencies should be recognized as a distinct alternative asset class because of their independent return stream and low correlations to both traditional asset classes and other types of alternatives investments. These attributes can contribute to reducing portfolio volatility when used as a complement to stocks and bonds."

By changing its benchmark to the FXTI, the Fund has aligned itself with the only known long/short currency index in the retail marketplace, and one which provides verifiable and repeatable data going back 10 years.  The Direxion Currency Trends Strategy Fund, formerly known as the Financial Trends Strategy Fund, changed its name and index effective September 1, 2011.   This change further illustrates Direxion's commitment to the alternatives space, their desire to refine existing strategies when appropriate, and to broaden their suite of alternative products.

For more information about Direxion, please contact James Doyle at 973-850-7308 or [email protected].

About Direxion

Direxion Funds and Direxion Shares, managed by Rafferty Asset Management, LLC, offer leveraged index funds, ETFs and alternative-class fund products for investment advisors and sophisticated investors who seek to effectively manage risk and return in both bull and bear markets. Founded in 1997, the company has approximately $7.5 billion in assets under management as of 9/30/11. The company's business model is built on continuous product innovation, exceptional customer service and a commitment to building strategic relationships with distribution partners. For more information, please visit www.direxionshares.com.

About Direxion Currency Trends Strategy Fund

The Direxion Currency Trends Strategy Fund is managed to track the Alpha Financial FX Trends Index ™ ("FXTI"). The FXTI is an index that reflects price movements across eleven foreign currency components. The Fund invests primarily in derivatives, including currency and financial futures contracts, options and swap contracts, but may also invest directly in currencies, equity securities and fixed income securities, and in exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") and other investment companies. The Fund will attempt to achieve the same weightings among the Euro, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, Brazilian Real, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Mexican Peso, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Norwegian Krone and South African Rand as the FXTI, but may not, at all times, invest in the same underlying securities or derivatives. In addition, on a day-to-day basis, the Fund will hold U.S. government securities, short-term fixed-income securities, money market instruments, overnight and fixed-term repurchase agreements, cash and other cash equivalents with maturities of one year or less to collateralize its derivatives exposure. Like the FXTI, the Fund's investments in each sector will be positioned long or short depending upon price trends within that sector. The Fund will reposition its portfolio holdings following each month-end in accordance with the rebalancing of the FXTI. The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, meaning that a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers of securities.  For more information, please contact Direxion at 877-437-9363 or [email protected].

Disclosure:

An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Direxion Funds carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about Direxion Funds. To obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus, please contact the Direxion Funds at 800.851.0511. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Short selling is the selling of a security that the seller doesn't own. More specifically, a short sale is the sale of a security that isn't owned by the seller, but that is promised to be delivered. The risks associated with the Direxion Currency Trends Strategy Fund are detailed in the prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (available upon request, free of charge). These include, but are not limited to, risks of high portfolio turnover; risk of tracking error; leverage, derivatives and counterparty risks; risk of non-diversification; risk of interest rate changes; risks of investing in other investment companies and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs); risks of adverse market conditions; risks of investing in equity securities and foreign instruments; risks of currency exchange rates; risks of shorting instruments; risks of the adviser's investment strategy; credit risk; and valuation time risk.

Distributor: Rafferty Capital Markets, LLC.

SOURCE Direxion