Thanks to a wobbly economy, which is unable to set foot on a steady upward trajectory, many investors are keeping a tab on volatility as an indicator of fear in the market. So far in 2015, the U.S. economy has been jerky apart from some rare upbeat readings related to job and housing. This has left the Fed in two minds about normalizing the interest rate policy.

Though we are likely to see the end of the easy money era in 2015, no one knows the exact timeline. Moreover, things are still wild at the international arena. The Euro zone economy might have scored a respectable expansion in the first quarter of 2015 but the region is yet to stand on its own feet. Chinese and Japanese economies also look far from stable.

In such a situation, markets could either climb or crash in 2015 leading a few investors to take special note of the volatility-related ETFs in advance. Probably keeping this in mind, AccuShares has recently rolled out two volatility-related ETFs, one regular and the other inverse. Let’s take a look at the two products (read: Which Volatility Hedged ETF Should You Consider?).

Spot CBOE VIX Up Class Shares ((VXUP - ETF report))

For investors seeking volatility exposure in turbulent market conditions, VXUP could be an interesting choice. The fund looks to track the price volatility of the S&P 500 Index (SPY). The fund’s underlying index is the CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, per the issuer. Notably, VIX signals a fear gauge that tends to do well when markets are sliding or fear levels are high.

According to the issuer, “investors can get accurate 'spot' exposure to the CBOE Volatility Index for the first time” via this product. Also, its press release says that “the AccuShares Spot CBOE VIX ETF holds only cash and cash equivalents, eliminating the expense and complexity typically associated with futures-based strategies, and creating an ETF that provides transparency of fees and holdings”.

The fund should be considered by investors only on a short-term basis. Holding the product for a longer period would result in attrition of capital. The fund charges 95 bps in fees which is in line with the space.

Though the investment objective of the ETF is quite unique, this product looks to vie with numerous ingrained peers in the space including S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX - ETF report) with $1.15 billion assets, VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) with $142.5 million and S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ) with $89.7 million.

Spot CBOE VIX Fund Down Class Shares ((VXDN - ETF report))

This product looks to offer opposite investment results of the CBOE Volatility Index over a one month period. This fund also charges 95 bps in fees and looks to compete with the likes of Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV), Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (SVXY) and Daily Inverse VIX Medium-Term ETN (ZIV). XIV, the biggest fund in the inverse volatility ETF space, sits on an asset base of $532.8 million (see all volatility ETFs here).

The newly launched fund is moderately priced in the segment as XIV is the most highly priced with 1.35% of expense ratio while one can have a product with an expense ratio of 0.89% in this category (read:Leveraged Volatility ETFs in Focus).

How Does It Fit in A Portfolio?

Betting on volatility products requires a strong stomach for risk and should only be considered by investors with high risk tolerance. The issuer has made a smart move by rolling out both regular and inverse volatility-related products to play the peaks and troughs in the market.

After all, the market is going through an uncertain course with several developed economies adopting different monetary policies.  In such a backdrop, volatility-related ETFs, regular or inverse, should garner investors’ attention.