NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Investors looking for an easy way into betting on anxiety can turn to two new exchange-traded funds that track volatility.

Two ETFs that track the performance of VIX futures indexes got under way on Wall Street on Tuesday. The ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures VIXY.P, linked to the performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, and VIX Mid-Term Futures VIXM.P, linked to the VIX Mid-Term Futures Index ETFs, were listed Tuesday on NYSE Arca.

The funds track short-term futures contracts -- VIX futures which target a constant, weighted-average term of one month -- and mid-term contracts, targeting contracts five months out.

“If you’re buying the VIX you’re basically buying futures,” said Tom Lydon, president at Global Investment Trends in Newport Beach, California and editor of exchangetradedfunds.com.

“The average investor may not understand all the ins and outs and the risk regarding buying futures, and these ETFs are constructed so you can buy and sell (them) like a stock,” he said.

Still, the target investor is expected to understand the ETF and the potential risks and benefits of investing in an instrument benchmarked to VIX futures.

“The intended audience for these ETFs are sophisticated investors,” said Michael L. Sapir, chairman and CEO of ProShare Capital Management, sponsor of the funds.

The new ETFs are not regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Leslie Adler)