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Form 497K PROSHARES TRUST

September 28, 2022 3:13 PM EDT
 
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
October 1, 2022 
 
Merger ETF
This Summary Prospectus is designed to provide investors with key fund information in a clear and concise format. Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Full Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund’s Full Prospectus, dated October 1, 2022, and Statement of Additional Information, dated October 1, 2022, and as each hereafter may be supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. All of this information may be obtained at no cost either: online at ProShares.com/resources/prospectus_reports.html; by calling 866-PRO-5125 (866-776-5125); or by sending an email request to [email protected]. The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Summary Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
 
MRGR LISTED ON CBOE BZX U.S. EQUITIES EXCHANGE 
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Investment Objective
ProShares Merger ETF (the “Fund”) seeks investment results, before fees and expenses, that track the performance of the S&P Merger Arbitrage Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. 
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage
of the value of your investment)
 
Management Fees
0.75%
Other Expenses
0.44%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses Before Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements
1.19%
Fee Waiver/Reimbursement1
-0.44%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements
0.75%
1
ProShare Advisors LLC (“ProShare Advisors”) has contractually agreed to waive Investment Advisory and Management Services Fees and to reimburse Other Expenses to the extent Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses Before Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements, as a percentage of average daily net assets, exceed 0.75% through September 30, 2023. After such date, the expense limitation may be terminated or revised by ProShare Advisors. Amounts waived or reimbursed in a particular contractual period may be recouped by ProShare Advisors within five years of the end of that contractual period, however, such recoupment will be limited to the lesser of any expense limitation in place at the time of recoupment or the expense limitation in place at the time of waiver or reimbursement.
Example: This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all of your shares at the end of each period. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, except that the fee waiver/expense reimbursement is assumed only to pertain to the first year. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your approximate costs would be: 
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
$77
$334
$612
$1,404
The Fund pays transaction and financing costs associated with the purchase and sale of securities and derivatives. These costs are not reflected in the table or the example above.
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A
higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when the Fund’s shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example above, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s annual portfolio turnover rate was 262% of the average value of its entire portfolio. This portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to cash instruments or derivatives transactions. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate would be significantly higher.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund is designed to track the performance of the Index and provide exposure to a global merger arbitrage strategy.
The Index is constructed and maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. The Index, and by extension the Fund, seeks to produce consistent, positive returns in virtually all market environments, although there are no assurances it will achieve this result. A global merger arbitrage strategy seeks to capture the spread between the price at which the stock of a company (each such company, a “Target”) trades after a proposed acquisition of such Target is announced and the value (cash plus stock) that the acquiring company (the “Acquirer”) has proposed to pay for the stock of the Target (a “Spread”). Such a Spread typically exists due to the uncertainty that the announced merger, acquisition or other corporate reorganization (each, a “Deal”) will close, and if it closes, that such Deal will be at the initially proposed economic terms. For Deals that close, the price of the Target after the Deal is announced is expected to approach the proposed acquisition price by the closing date of the Deal, resulting in a gain to strategies such as the Index’s, which attempt to capture this Spread. The size of the Spread will depend on several factors, including the perceived risk of the Deal closing and the length of time expected until the Deal is completed. For Deals that are not consummated, the price of the Target commonly falls back to pre-announcement levels, typically resulting in significant losses well in excess of the post-announcement Spread the strategy attempts to capture.
To obtain exposure to the Index, the Fund takes long positions in shares of the Target. The Fund also takes short positions in shares of the Acquirer when the Deal involves an exchange of the Acquirer’s stock. The short positions are intended to reduce the effect that declines in the value of the Acquirer’s stock could have on the Spread. The Index, created by Standard & Poor’s®, is comprised of a maximum of 80 companies, including up to 40 companies that are currently targets in merger deals, which are represented by long positions in the index, and up to 40 companies that are currently acquirers for the same stock merger deals, which are represented by short positions in the Index. The Index includes a cash component, which earns the three-month U.S. Treasury Bill rate. When Deals enter the Index, the weight in long positions of Targets is initiated at three percent (3%) and the initial weight in short positions of Acquirers ranges between zero and three
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percent (0% and 3%), depending on the terms of the Deal. The sum of initial net exposure for the Fund (i.e., the difference between: (a) the Fund’s total long exposure; and (b) the Fund’s total short exposure) is limited to between zero and one hundred percent (0% and 100%), with both the long and short positions having a maximum initial exposure each of 120%. The Index also includes a Treasury bill component which constitutes the remainder of the Index when net exposure from included Deals is less than 100%. Certain Deals are screened out based on liquidity, size, and Spread between the Deal price and the Target’s stock price. Additions and deletions occur on a rolling basis. Returns are expected to be uncorrelated to equity markets over time. The Index is denominated in local currencies, and the Fund will generally seek to hedge against fluctuations between the value of the U.S. Dollar and the currencies in which the securities are denominated. The Fund will utilize financial instruments such as currency forward contracts to seek to offset its total equity exposure to each currency. The Index is published under the Bloomberg ticker symbol “SPLSALP”.
The Fund will generally not short any stocks directly but will generally obtain short exposure through derivatives.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets in component securities of the Index.
The Fund will invest principally in the financial instruments set forth below. The Fund expects that its cash balances maintained in connection with the use of financial instruments will typically be held in money market instruments.
•Equity Securities — The Fund invests in common stock issued by public companies.
•Derivatives — The Fund invests in derivatives, which are financial instruments whose value is derived from the value of an underlying asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, funds (including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”)), exchange rate, interest rates or indexes. The Fund invests in derivatives as a substitute for investing directly in or making short sales of the securities of the Index, as well as for effecting currency hedging transactions. These derivatives principally include:
○Swap Agreements — Contracts entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period ranging from a day to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated with respect to a “notional amount,” e.g., the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a “basket” of securities or an ETF representing a particular index.
○Forward Contracts — Two-party contracts where a purchase or sale of a specific quantity of a commodity, security, foreign currency or other financial instrument is entered into with dealers or financial institutions at a set price,
with delivery and settlement at a specified future date. Forward contracts may also be structured for cash settlement, rather than physical delivery.
•Money Market Instruments — The Fund invests in short-term cash instruments that have a remaining maturity of 397 days or less and exhibit high quality credit profiles, for example:
○U.S. Treasury Bills — U.S. government securities that have initial maturities of one year or less, and are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
○Repurchase Agreements — Contracts in which a seller of securities, usually U.S. government securities or other money market instruments, agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements are primarily used by the Fund as a short-term investment vehicle for cash positions.
ProShare Advisors uses a mathematical approach to investing. Using this approach, ProShare Advisors determines the type, quantity and mix of investment positions that it believes, in combination, the Fund should hold to produce returns consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may invest in or gain exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index or to securities not contained in the Index or in financial instruments, with the intent of obtaining exposure with aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index. In managing the assets of the Fund, ProShare Advisors does not invest the assets of the Fund in securities or financial instruments based on ProShare Advisors’ view of the investment merit of a particular security, instrument, or company, nor does it conduct conventional investment research or analysis or forecast market movement or trends. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, provide exposure to the returns of the Index without regard to market conditions, trends or direction.
The Fund will concentrate (i.e., invest in securities that represent 25 percent or more of the value of the Index) or focus (i.e., invest in securities that represent a substantial portion of its value, but less than 25 percent) its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent the Index is so concentrated or focused. As of May 31, 2022, the Index was concentrated in the information technology industry group, and was focused in the industrials industry group.
Please see “Investment Objectives, Principal Investment Strategies and Related Risks” in the Fund’s Prospectus for additional details.
Principal Risks
You could lose money by investing in the Fund.
The principal risks described below are intended to provide information about the factors likely to have a significant adverse impact on the Fund’s returns and consequently the value of an investment in the Fund. The risks are presented in
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an order intended to facilitate readability and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur than another risk or likely to have a greater adverse impact than another risk.
•Risks Associated with the Use of Derivatives — Investing in derivatives may be considered aggressive and may expose the Fund to greater risks and may result in larger losses or smaller gains than investing directly in the reference asset(s) underlying those derivatives. These risks include counterparty risk, liquidity risk and increased correlation risk. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be imperfect correlation between the value of the reference asset(s) underlying the derivative (e.g., the Index) and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives also may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested. Moreover, with respect to the use of swap agreements, if the Index has a dramatic intraday move that causes a material decline in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to immediately close out the transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to achieve the desired exposure consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. This, in turn, may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective, even if the Index reverses all or a portion of its intraday move by the end of the day. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning. Any costs associated with using derivatives will also have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return.
•Correlation Risk — A number of factors may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index, and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation. Failure to achieve a high degree of correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective.
Factors that may adversely affect the Fund’s correlation with the Index include fees, expenses, transaction costs, income items, valuation methodology, accounting standards and disruptions or illiquidity in the markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests. The Fund may not have investment exposure to all of the securities in the Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to securities may be different from that of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities not included in the Index. The Fund may take or refrain from taking positions in order to improve tax efficiency, comply with regulatory restrictions, or for other reasons, each of which may negatively affect the Fund’s correlation with the Index. The Fund may also be subject to large movements of assets into
and out of the Fund, potentially resulting in the Fund being over- or underexposed to the Index and may be impacted by Index reconstitutions and Index rebalancing events. Additionally, the Fund’s underlying investments may trade on markets that may not be open on the same day as the Fund, which may cause a difference between the performance of the Fund and the performance of the Index on such day. Any of these factors could decrease correlation between the performance of the Fund and the Index and may hinder the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective.
•Counterparty Risk — Investing in derivatives and repurchase agreements involves entering into contracts with third parties (i.e., counterparties). The use of derivatives and repurchase agreements involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The Fund will be subject to credit risk (i.e., the risk that a counterparty is or is perceived to be unwilling or unable to make timely payments or otherwise meet its contractual obligations) with respect to the amount it expects to receive from counterparties to derivatives and repurchase agreements entered into by the Fund. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or fails to perform its obligations, or if any collateral posted by the counterparty for the benefit of the Fund is insufficient or there are delays in the Fund’s ability to access such collateral, the value of an investment in the Fund may decline.
•Short Sale Exposure Risk — The Fund may seek “short” exposure through financial instruments, which would cause the Fund to be exposed to certain risks associated with selling short. These risks include, under certain market conditions, an increase in the volatility and decrease in the liquidity of the instruments underlying the short position, which may lower the Fund’s return, result in a loss, have the effect of limiting the Fund’s ability to obtain short exposure through financial instruments, or require the Fund to seek short exposure through alternative investment strategies that may be less desirable or more costly to implement. To the extent that, at any particular point in time, the financial instruments underlying the short position may be thinly traded or have a limited market, including due to regulatory action, the Fund may be unable to meet its investment objective due to a lack of available financial instruments or counterparties. During such periods, the Fund’s ability to issue additional Creation Units may be adversely affected. Obtaining short exposure through these instruments may be considered an aggressive investment technique. Any income, dividends or payments by the assets underlying the Fund’s short positions will negatively impact the Fund.
•Long/Short Risk — The Fund seeks long exposure to certain factors and short exposure to certain other factors. There is no guarantee that the returns on the Fund’s long or short
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positions will produce positive returns and the Fund could lose money if either or both the Fund’s long and short positions produce negative returns.
•Risks Related to the Merger Arbitrage Strategy — There is no assurance that any of the Deals reflected in the Index will be successfully completed. In particular, in certain market conditions, it is possible that most or all of the Deals could fail. If any Deal reflected in the Index is not consummated, the Spread between the price offered for the Target and the price at which the shares of the Target trade is expected to widen. In such cases the price of the Target commonly falls back to pre-Deal announcement levels, typically resulting in significant losses well in excess of the post-announcement Spread the strategy attempts to capture. This could adversely affect the performance of the Index and the performance of the Fund. Deals may be terminated, renegotiated, or subject to a longer time frame than initially contemplated due to business, regulatory, or other concerns. Any of these events may negatively impact the performance of the Fund. The Index may also delete transactions under certain circumstances, thus precluding any potential future gains. Also, foreign companies involved in pending mergers or acquisitions may present risks distinct from comparable transactions completed solely within the U.S.
•Risks Related to Foreign Currencies and the Fund’s Currency Hedging Strategy — The Index is denominated in local currencies and does not reflect the impact of currency movements that can affect U.S. investors (such as the Fund) in such securities. The Fund will generally attempt to match the Index by hedging against exposure to foreign currencies. These hedges will in many cases not fully eliminate the exposure to a particular currency. In addition, interest rate differentials and additional transaction costs can diminish the effectiveness of a particular hedging position. All of these factors may cause additional correlation risk. In addition, in order to transact in foreign investments, the Fund may exchange and hold foreign currencies. Regulatory fees or higher custody fees may be imposed on foreign currency holdings.
•Equity and Market Risk — Equity markets are volatile, and the value of securities, swaps, futures and other instruments correlated with equity markets may fluctuate dramatically from day to day. Equity markets are subject to corporate, political, regulatory, market and economic developments, as well as developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market. Further, stocks in the Index may underperform other equity investments. Volatility in the markets and/or market developments may cause the value of an investment in the Fund to decrease over short or long periods of time.
•Foreign Investments Risk — Exposure to securities of foreign issuers may provide the Fund with increased risk. Various
factors related to foreign investments may negatively impact the Fund’s and the Index’s performance, such as: i) fluctuations in the value of the applicable foreign currency; ii) differences in securities settlement practices; iii) uncertainty associated with evidence of ownership of investments in countries that lack centralized custodial services; iv) possible regulation of, or other limitations on, investments by U.S. investors in foreign investments; v) potentially higher brokerage commissions; vi) the possibility that a foreign government may withhold portions of interest and dividends at the source; vii) taxation of income earned in foreign countries or other foreign taxes imposed; viii) foreign exchange controls, which may include suspension of the ability to transfer currency from a foreign country; ix) less publicly available information about foreign issuers; x) changes in the denomination currency of a foreign investment; and xi) less certain legal systems in which the Fund may encounter difficulties or be unable to pursue legal remedies. Foreign investments also may be more susceptible to political, social, economic and regional factors than may be the case with U.S. securities. In addition, markets for foreign investments are usually less liquid, more volatile and significantly smaller than markets for U.S. securities, which may affect, among other things, the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell foreign investments at appropriate times and prices. Because of differences in settlement times and/or foreign market holidays, transactions in a foreign market may take place one or more days after the necessary exposure to these investments is determined. Until the transactions are effected, the Fund is exposed to increased foreign currency risk and market risk and, ultimately, increased correlation risk.
•Concentration and Focused Investing — The Index may concentrate (i.e., composed of securities that represent 25 percent or more of the value of the Index) or focus (i.e., composed of securities that represent a substantial portion of its value, but less than 25 percent) in an industry or group of industries. The Fund will allocate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index. As a result, the Fund may be subject to greater market fluctuations than a fund that is more broadly invested across industries. Financial, economic, business, regulatory conditions, and other developments affecting issuers in a particular industry or group of industries will have a greater effect on the Fund, and if securities of the particular industry or group of industries fall out of favor, the Fund could underperform, or its net asset value may be more volatile than, funds that have greater industry diversification.
○Industrials Industry Risk — Companies in this industry may experience: adverse effects on stock prices by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrials industry products in general; declining demand; and changing government regulation.
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○Information Technology Industry Risk — Companies in this industry may experience: intense competition, obsolescence of existing technology, and changing economic conditions and government regulation.
•Small- and Mid-Cap Company Investment Risk — The risk of equity investing may be particularly acute for securities of issuers with smaller market capitalizations. Small- and mid-cap companies may have limited product lines or resources, may be dependent upon a particular market niche and may have greater fluctuations in price than the stocks of larger companies. Small- and mid-cap companies may lack the financial and personnel resources to handle economic or industry-wide setbacks and, as a result, such setbacks could have a greater effect on small- and mid-cap security prices. Additionally, small- and mid-cap company stocks may trade at greater spreads or lower trading volumes, and may be less liquid than the stocks of larger companies. Further, stocks of small- and mid-sized companies could be more difficult to liquidate during market downturns compared to larger, more widely traded companies.
•Index Performance Risk — The Index is maintained by a third party provider unaffiliated with the Fund or ProShare Advisors. There can be no guarantee or assurance that the methodology used by the third party provider to create the Index will result in the Fund achieving positive returns. Further, there can be no guarantee that the methodology underlying the Index or the daily calculation of the Index will be free from error. For an Index with exposure to foreign, and especially emerging markets, there may be heightened risks associated with the adequacy and reliability of the information used to calculate the Index, because there might be less, incomplete or inaccurate information available about securities issuers in those markets due to different or less stringent market or accounting regulation or practices. ProShare Advisors has no ability to assess a third party provider’s due diligence process over index data prior to its use in index computation, construction and/or rebalancing. It is also possible that the value of the Index may be subject to intentional manipulation by third-party market participants. The Index used by the Fund may underperform other asset classes and may underperform other similar indices. Each of these factors could have a negative impact on the performance of the Fund.
•Non-Diversification Risk — The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”). This means it has the ability to invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in the securities of a small number of issuers or in financial instruments with a single counterparty or a few counterparties. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and increase the risk that the Fund’s performance will decline based on the performance of a single issuer or the credit of a single counterparty.
•Market Price Variance Risk — Investors buy and sell Fund shares in the secondary market at market prices, which may be different from the NAV per share of the Fund (i.e., the secondary market price may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount)). The market price of the Fund’s shares will fluctuate in response to changes in the value of the Fund’s holdings, supply and demand for shares and other market factors. In addition, the instruments held by the Fund may be traded in markets on days and at times when the Fund’s listing exchange is closed for trading. As a result, the value of the Fund’s holdings may vary, perhaps significantly, on days and at times when investors are unable to purchase or sell Fund shares. ProShare Advisors cannot predict whether shares will trade above, below or at a price equal to the value of the Fund’s holdings.
•Early Close/Late Close/Trading Halt Risk — An exchange or market may close early, close late or issue trading halts on specific securities or financial instruments. As a result, the ability to trade certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may disrupt the Fund’s creation and redemption process, potentially affect the price at which the Fund’s shares trade in the secondary market, and/or result in the Fund being unable to trade certain securities or financial instruments at all. In these circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses. If trading in the Fund’s shares are halted, investors may be temporarily unable to trade shares of the Fund.
•Liquidity Risk — In certain circumstances, such as the disruption of the orderly markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests, the Fund might not be able to acquire or dispose of certain holdings quickly or at prices that represent true market value in the judgment of ProShare Advisors. Markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests may be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to economic crises, political crises, health crises, natural disasters, excessive volatility, new legislation, or regulatory changes inside or outside of the U.S. For example, regulation limiting the ability of certain financial institutions to invest in certain financial instruments would likely reduce the liquidity of those instruments. These situations may prevent the Fund from limiting losses, realizing gains or achieving a high correlation with the Index.
•Portfolio Turnover Risk — The Fund may incur high portfolio turnover to manage the Fund’s investment exposure. Additionally, active market trading of the Fund’s shares may cause more frequent creation or redemption activities that could, in certain circumstances, increase the number of portfolio transactions. High levels of portfolio transactions increase brokerage and other transaction costs and may
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result in increased taxable capital gains. Each of these factors could have a negative impact on the performance of the Fund.
•Tax Risk — In order to qualify for the special tax treatment accorded a RIC and its shareholders, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from “qualifying income,” meet certain asset diversification tests at the end of each taxable quarter, and meet annual distribution requirements. The Fund’s pursuit of its investment strategies will potentially be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify for such treatment and could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to so qualify. The Fund may make certain investments, the treatment of which for these purposes is unclear. If, in any year, the Fund were to fail to qualify for the special tax treatment accorded a RIC and its shareholders, and were ineligible to or were not to cure such failure, the Fund would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation subject to U.S. federal income tax on all its income at the fund level. The resulting taxes could substantially reduce the Fund’s net assets and the amount of income available for distribution. In addition, in order to requalify for taxation as a RIC, the Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest, and make certain distributions. Please see the section entitled “Taxation” in the Statement of Additional Information for more information.
•Valuation Risk — In certain circumstances (e.g., if ProShare Advisors believes market quotations are not reliable, or a trading halt closes an exchange or market early), ProShare Advisors may, pursuant to procedures approved by the Board of Trustees of the Fund, choose to determine a fair value price as the basis for determining the value of such investment for such day. The fair value of an investment determined by ProShare Advisors may be different from other value determinations of the same investment. Portfolio investments that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” investments, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their value from one day to the next than would be the case if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell a portfolio investment for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio investment is sold at a discount to its established value.
Please see “Investment Objectives, Principal Investment Strategies and Related Risks” in the Fund’s Prospectus for additional details.
Investment Results
The bar chart below shows how the Fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the table shows how the Fund’s average annual total returns for various periods com
pare with a broad measure of market performance. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. In addition, the Fund’s performance information reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations, if any, in effect during the periods presented. Absent such fee waivers/expense limitations, if any, performance would have been lower.   Past results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future results. Updated information on the Fund’s results can be obtained by visiting the Fund’s website (www.proshares.com).
Annual Returns as of December 31
  
Best Quarter
(ended
9/30/2018
):
2.86%
Worst Quarter
(ended
3/31/2013
):
-3.94%
Year-to-Date
(ended
6/30/2022
):
-2.58%
Average Annual Total Returns
As of December 31, 2021 
 
One
Year
Five
Years
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Before Tax
5.47%
3.69%
1.15%
12/11/2012
After Taxes on
Distributions
5.32%
3.53%
0.92%
—
After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale
of Shares
3.34%
2.84%
0.84%
—
S&P Merger Arbitrage®
Index1
6.87%
4.45%
2.19%
—
1
Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. Adjusted to reflect the reinvestment of dividends paid by issuers in the Index. “Since Inception” returns are calculated from the date the Fund commenced operations, not the date of inception of the Index.
Average annual total returns are shown on a before- and after-tax basis for the Fund. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are
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not relevant to investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as a retirement account. After-tax returns may exceed the return before taxes due to a tax benefit from realizing a capital loss on a sale of shares.
Management
The Fund is advised by ProShare Advisors. Alexander Ilyasov, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Scott Hanson, Portfolio Manager, have jointly and primarily managed the Fund since August 2020 and August 2016, respectively.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund will issue and redeem shares only to Authorized Participants (typically broker-dealers) in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of assets (securities and/or cash) in large blocks, known as Creation Units. Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold by retail investors in secondary market transactions through broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries. Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on a national securities exchange and because shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares of the Fund may trade
at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition to brokerage commissions, investors incur the costs of the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Funds (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). The bid-ask spread varies over time for Fund shares based on trading volume and market liquidity. Recent information, including information about a Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is included on the Fund’s website (www.proshares.com).
Tax Information
Income and capital gains distributions you receive from the Fund generally are subject to federal income taxes and may also be subject to state and local taxes. The Fund intends to distribute income, if any, quarterly, and capital gains, if any, at least annually. Distributions for this Fund may be higher than those of most ETFs.
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Investment Company Act file number 811-21114
ProShares Trust
7272 Wisconsin Avenue, 21st Floor, Bethesda, MD 20814
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