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Should Traders Consider M&A Rumors?

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:24:34 -0500

Feel like gambling, but don’t want to drive all the way to the casino? Instead of sitting down at the Blackjack table, investors might try to predict the next surprise M&A takeover target.

According to The Associated Press, U.S. companies, over the past few months, have announced a dozen deals

A Closer Look At Merger Arbitrage ETPs

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:00:13 -0500

For investors, the growth of the ETF industry has certainly been a blessing. Aside from accessing equities and bonds for dirt cheap, regular retail investors now have the opportunity to gain access to strategies that were once either too expensive or hard to reach. Historically, alternative assets have been very costly and almost impossible for the little guy to gain exposure to. With the ETF boom still going strong, new products have allowed individual retail investors the ability to access hedge funds, long-short strategies, 130/30 tactics and other areas of the market previously off-limits. Anyone with a brokerage account can now channel their own inner hedge fund manager [Download How To Pick The Right ETF Every Time]. One of more interesting opportunities for retail investors than can be tapped via exchange-traded funds lies within the absolute return strategy of merger arbitrage. Merger Arbitrage 101 At its core, merger arbitrage–sometimes called risk arbitrage–is [...]

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Let’s Make a Deal: A Look at Merger Arbitrage ETFs

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 06:00:37 -0500

Mergers and acquisitions present an opportunity for some investors to capitalize on expanding businesses. With exchange traded funds, investors now have more options to capture the M&A activity. ProShares recently launched the ProShares Merger ETF (BATS: MRGR). The ETF tries to reflect the...

ProShares Launches Merger Arbitrage ETF – ETF News And Commentary

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:05:01 -0500

ProShares looks to challenge MNA with a new merger ETF MRGR.

ProShares to List Merger ETF on BATS Exchange

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:19:55 -0500

ProShares, the largest issuers of inverse and leveraged ETFs, will list its newest ETF, the ProShares Merger ETF, on the BATS exchange when the ETF debuts on Thursday, December 13. The ProShares Merger ETF will trade on BATS under the ticker "MRGR."

MRGR, which appears to be a competitor to the

ProShares Planning Merger Arbitrage ETF (MRGR) – ETF News And Commentary

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:38:01 -0500

ProShares is looking to expand its non-leveraged lineup with a new merger arbitrage ETF.

Two ETFs for the Muddle Through Economy – ETF News And Commentary

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:17:01 -0400

We are experiencing a 'muddle through' economy of slow growth. What are two great ETF options for this situation?

What could possibly go wrong?

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:01:23 -0500

With equities gaining and economic indicators improving, what could go wrong? Plenty. You need to defend your portfolio against sovereign debt risk and global economic weakness.

ETF Chart of the Day: Merger Arbitrage Funds

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:39:47 -0500

As the exchange traded fund market matures over time, we are hearing more about actively managed ETFs as well as portfolios that deliver alternatives or hedge fund strategies to the investor. One sub-category that has emerged that fits this bill is that of merger arbitrage funds, of which three...

Four Hedge Fund ETFs Your Broker Forgot To Tell You About

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:54:02 -0400

Four Hedge Fund ETFs Your Broker Forgot To Tell You AboutSome kids grow up dreaming about becoming movie stars or athletes. That's understandable, but some adults (and maybe some kids, too) fantasize about becoming hedge fund managers.If you've ev...

ProShares Launches Hedge Fund Replication ETF (HDG)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:45:22 -0400

ProShares announced the launch of the Hedge Replication ETF (HDG), a new product that will seek to provide returns characteristic of the hedge fund asset class. The new ETF is designed to maintain a high correlation to the HFRI Weighted Composite Index, an equal-weighted composite of more than 2,000 funds. The new ETF will seek to accomplish its objective by employing a proprietary model to establish weighted long or short exposure to six factors: S&P 500 Total Return Index MSCI EAFE US Dollar Net Total Return Index MSCI Emerging Markets US Dollar Net Total Return Index Russell 2000 Total Return Index 3-month U.S. Treasury Bills ProShares UltraShort Euro ETF The ETF will rebalance monthly, at which point a systematic regression analysis will determine which weighting for the factors would have produced the strongest correlation with the HFRI benchmark over the previous 24 month period. The S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, and [...]

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When ETNs Are Better Than ETFs

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:00:15 -0400

As the universe of exchange-traded products has expanded considerably in recent years, investors have become more aware of the nuances between the various types of investment vehicles. Under the “ETF umbrella” are a number of product structures that aren’t true 1940 Act exchange-traded funds, including unit investment trusts (UITs) and grantor trusts. Also included are exchange-traded notes (ETNs), debt securities that are similar in many ways to their ETF cousins but very different in others. ETNs are debt securities issued by financial institutions such as Barclays, Credit Suisse, and UBS. But unlike most debt instruments, the value of these securities is linked to the value of an underlying index; as the benchmark increases, so too does the value of the exchange-traded note. As such, the exposure offered ETNs is similar to the exposure of passive ETFs–both deliver returns that reflect the performance of an index [also see The Basics Of [...]

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How ETFs Have Democratized Investing

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:00:02 -0500

ETFs have been praised for improving the investing experience in a number of different ways. They have been the catalyst for a shift towards low cost indexing strategies, and have placed strong downward pressure on management fees throughout the investing landscape. They have improved tax efficiencies and intraday liquidity, allowing investors to move in and out of positions throughout the day and construct more complex short-term trading strategies. But arguably the greatest contribution of the ETF boom has been not the reduction in fees or the potential tax efficiencies; the tremendous growth of the ETF lineup has democratized the business of investing, opening up investment strategies and entire asset classes that have historically been accessible only to the largest and most sophisticated of investors. A significant portion of ETF assets are in “plain vanilla” products that offer exposure to domestic and international equities and U.S. bonds. And while the rise [...]

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Credit Suisse Adds Leveraged Merger Arb ETN (CSMB)

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 09:30:53 -0500

Credit Suisse announced the launch of its fourth ETN today, rolling out a product offering leveraged exposure to a merger arbitrage strategy. The 2x Monthly Leveraged Credit Suisse Merger Arbitrage Liquid Index ETN (CSMB) will be linked to an index consisting of stocks that are proposed takeover targets, delivering 2x leveraged exposure on a monthly basis. Credit Suisse debuted a merger arbitrage ETN in October 2010, and CSMA has seen assets grow to about $55 million since then. CSMB will be linked to the same index underlying CSMA, but will deliver monthly returns equal to 200% of the change in the underlying index over that month. A merger arbitrage strategy involves purchasing stocks of companies after a proposed acquisition is announced. Once a transaction is announced, there are still certain obstacles to completing a deal; there may be regulatory hurdles to be cleared or shareholder objections to a proposed deal [...]

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IndexIQ Files For International Small Cap, Asian Tiger ETFs

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:00:02 -0500

IndexIQ, the firm known for pioneering the hedge fund replication ETF space, recently made an SEC filing detailing plans for close to a dozen new funds targeting international equity markets. The filing was light on details such as ticker symbols or expense ratios, but highlighted the investment objectives for the innovative funds: IQ Mexico Small Cap ETF: Linked to the IQ Mexico Small Cap Index. IQ Asian Tigers ETF: Linked to the IQ Asian Tigers Index, which consists of stocks listed on an exchange in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. IQ Asian Tigers Consumer ETF: Linked to the IQ Asian Tigers Consumer Index, which consists of stocks in the consumer sector in the Asian Tiger economies. IQ Asian Tigers Small Cap ETF: Linked to the IQ Asian Tigers Small Cap Index. IQ Asia Pacific ex-Japan Small Cap ETF: Linked to an index consisting [...]

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Using ETFs To Access Alternatives

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:00:08 -0500

The introduction and rapid expansion of the ETF industry has no doubt been a very positive development for investors big and small. The low fees characteristic of the exchange-traded structure have allowed cost-conscious investors to minimize expenses without sacrificing returns, while the enhanced tax efficiency and intraday trading capabilities have contributed increased flexibility to the investing public. As ETFs have gained traction with investors, the size of the product lineup has grown rapidly. What was relatively recently a few hundred funds offering exposure to “plain vanilla” stock and bond benchmarks has quickly grown to a stable of more than 1,100 exchange-traded products covering nearly every nook and cranny of the investable universe. This proliferation of ETFs has given investors more precise tools for accessing traditional asset classes, but it has also opened up investment strategies and asset classes that were previously either out-of-reach or that required considerable time and/or expenses [...]

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7 Regional Bank ETFs Betting on M&A Pickup

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:00:56 -0500

Greater mergers and acquisitions activity in the financial sector has been delivering a nice bump for regional banking exchange traded funds (ETFs). The Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Regional Bank Index rose 3% this month on regional banking M&A activity, reports Laurie Kulikowski for TheStreet....

Deal-Making, Tax Cuts and China Lift Metals ETFs

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:30:58 -0500

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are following global equities higher early today after China refrained from hiking interest rates and as several deals were announced. Investors also expect congressional approval of a tax-cut extension in the United States, which would improve confidence in the...

4 ETFs to Watch If Tax Breaks Pass

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:00:08 -0500

The government is all about the helping hands these days: the Fed and its $600 billion Treasury buying program, the ongoing Bush-era tax cuts debate. All this assistance has to benefit some exchange traded funds (ETFs), right? The Obama administration stated that the “framework of a...

An ETF to Capture the M&A Boom

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:38 -0500

After a couple of years stuck in a doldrums, merger and acquisition activity is stirring from its slumber. An investor may capitalize on the increased M&A activity through the merger arbitrage exchange traded fund (ETF). According to Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting Services, global...

ETF Pipeline Grows: More Hedge Fund Products, VIX ETNs In The Works

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:00:48 -0400

Less than a week into November, the month is shaping up to be one of the most active in recent memory for the ETF industry. Vanguard (international real estate ETF), UBS (another MLP ETN), PIMCO (laddered Treasury fund), and Global X (Gold Explorers) have already launched new ETFs, and several more issuers are expected to debut new products in coming weeks. And as new funds hit the market, the product pipeline is quickly refilled with ideas for new products. One of the more interesting filings to hit the SEC’s desk this week came from ProShares, which detailed plans for its Hedge Fund Replication ETF. The proposed fund would track the performance of the Merrill Lynch Factor Model – Exchange Series. That benchmark is designed to maintain a high correlation with hedge fund beta, as represented by the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, an equally-weighted composite of more than 2,000 constituent [...]

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ETF Spotlight: Index IQ Merger Arbitrage (MNA)

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:00:28 -0400

ETF Spotlight on Index IQ Merger Arbitrage (NYSEArca: MNA), part of a weekly series. Assets: $28.2 million Objective: Tracks the IQ Merger Arbitrage Index Holdings: Some of the top companies in the ETF are Qwest communications, Allegheny Energy and Sybase, Inc. What You Should Know The top sectors...

Credit Suisse Launches Merger ETN (CSMA)

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:57:14 -0400

Credit Suisse rolled out the latest addition to its ETN lineup on Monday, launching the Credit Suisse Merger Arbitrage Liquid Index (CSMA). The exchange-traded note will be linked to an index designed to employ a merger arbitrage strategy by using a quantitative methodology to track a dynamic basket of securities held as long or short positions to reflect publicly announced merger transactions. CSMA will essentially seek to buy stocks that have been announced as takeover targets but for which the transaction has not yet closed. Because there is usually some degree of uncertainty as to whether an announced transaction will ultimately be consummated–regulatory and financing hurdles, as well as shareholder approval, are among the potential obstacles to closing a deal–takeover targets will often trade at a discount to the announced target price. By investing in stocks of publicly-traded takeover targets, investors can profit if the deal is ultimately [...]

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An ETF for the M&A Pickup

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:00:44 -0400

It’s merger madness in the markets right now. And wouldn’t you know it? There’s an exchange traded fund (ETF) to play it. Among the deals, would-be deals and not-deals-yet include: CNBC reports that in merger news, the Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) board rejected a $18.5 billion offer...

Merger-arbitrage ETF banks on M&A pickup

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:01:00 -0400

An exchange-traded fund that specializes in merger-arbitrage has received a lukewarm reception in the market, but a burst of deal activity may invite some investors to take a closer look.

M&A ETF (MNA) Holds Up During Slump

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:01:24 -0400

It is no secret that generating steady returns in equity markets has been a daunting task. The market has been extremely rocky in 2010 as a stellar July was washed away by extreme levels of weakness in the early part of August. These moves have leveled out equities to produce a sideways trend, leaving many investors baffled on how to make a play going forward. Some have abandoned their equity posts altogether, taking shelter in fixed income while they wait out the storm. However, others have taken a more novel approach, utilizing innovative Hedge Fund and Quantitative Methodology ETFs in order to profit from an unpredictable financial environment [see ETF Ideas For A Flat Market]. In turbulent economic times, it is not uncommon for struggling companies to be bought out by larger, more stable firms. Likewise, some companies merge to boost profits and create synergies in order to form [...]

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ETFs For Increased M&A Activity

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:17:27 -0400

As companies continue to put out good earnings reports and cash flow lending comes back to life, it appears that there is an improved market sentiment in the mergers and acquisitions spectrum. According to a report by mergermarket and Merrill DataSite, the first six months of 2010 has a relatively active M&A season and the trend ...

Closer Look At Hedge Fund ETFs

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:43:35 -0400

The past few years have seen no shortage of innovation in the ETF space; targeted international products, state-specific funds, and single-commodity ETPs are just a few of the developments to come out of the rapidly-expanding industry. Some of the most interesting products to hit the market recently are found in the Hedge Funds ETFdb Category, offering exposure to strategies that have historically been off limits to most investors. Many investors have some misconceptions about the hedge fund asset class; stories of outrageous returns generated in the 1990s and early 2000s have led them to believe that hedge funds seek to generate massive absolute returns by taking on significant risk. But in reality, hedge funds aren’t always out to generate eye-popping absolute returns. As the very name of these vehicles suggests, most hedge funds are designed to hedge, dampening volatility and providing diversification benefits to traditional stock-and-bond portfolios [see Early Leaders In [...]

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Talking Hedge Fund ETFs, Inflation-Proofing, And More With Adam Patti

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:29:18 -0400

Adam Patti is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of IndexIQ, a New York-based ETF issuer behind several of the most innovative ETF products to hit the market in recent years. He recently took time out of his busy schedule to discuss commodity investing, ETF options for protecting against inflation, and replicating hedge fund-like returns through ETFs. ETF Database (ETFdb): IndexIQ is perhaps best known for its hedge fund replication ETFs, including the Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (QAI) and IQ Hedge Macro Tracker ETF (MCRO). Why might investors want exposure to a hedge fund-like asset? Adam Patti (AP): First off, there are some misconceptions about this asset class; many investors think that hedge funds are designed to “shoot the lights out” in terms of performance, because they hear all these fantastic numbers that some of these hedge funds put up once in a while. The reality is that hedge funds, as their name [...]

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Will Cash-Rich Companies Boost MNA and PKW?

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:13:28 -0400

During the recent recession, many companies switched into crisis mode, slashing expenditures and conserving cash in fear that the downturn would drag on for years and sustained negative cash cash flows would push them to the brink of collapse. With a recovery that has been impressive for both its stability and strength, many firms have [...]

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Will Cash-Rich Companies Boost MNA And PKW?

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:13:28 -0400

Five ETFs For A Tumbling Euro

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:42:05 -0500

With continued worries over budget crises in the “PIIGS” (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) and their rapidly deteriorating fiscal conditions, the future of the euro zone’s common currency has been called into question. Most of attention has focused on Greece, where double digit budget deficits threaten to grind the government to a halt and [...]

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Five ETFs For A Tumbling Euro

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:42:05 -0500

Credit Suisse Launches Hedge Fund ETN (CSLS)

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:15:51 -0500

Credit Suisse, one of the world’s largest financial services providers, announced Monday the launch of the Credit Suisse Long/Short Liquid Index (Net) ETN (CSLS), a product designed to correlate to the performance of the Credit Suisse Tremont Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund Index. But the new ETN achieves hedge fund-like exposure in a unique manner. The [...]

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Alternative ETFs: Sophisticated Strategies in a Simple Package

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:00:30 -0500

Checking In On Ten Major ETF Launches From 2009 « Michael Johnston »

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:15:20 -0500

Last year saw more than 100 new product launches, ranging from plain vanilla equity and bond funds to ETFs offering exposure to exotic new investment strategies and asset classes previously available only to a limited slice of the investing community. The innovation that has made ETFs a popular alternative to mutual funds seems ready to ...

Checking In On Ten Major ETF Launches From 2009

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:15:20 -0500

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What’s In A Name: A Look Inside ETF Tickers

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:42:04 -0500

Whenever a company prepares for a public offering, executives have been known to spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the combination of letters that will serve as the company’s ticker and often nickname within the investment community. To many, the fixation on selecting the perfect ticker seems like an irrational obsession on par with ...

What’s In A Name: A Look Inside ETF Tickers

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:42:04 -0500

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How To Make The Most Of A Resurgent M&A Market In 2010

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:10:25 -0500

Unlike this time last year, prospects for U.S. corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) appear robust heading into the new year. And that bodes well for investors astute enough to identify the sectors where action will likely be hottest. As an indication of the improving outlook, nine deals with a total value of ...

IndexIQ Perfect On Capital Gains, Van Eck Close

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:45:04 -0500

IndexIQ, the Rye Brook, New York-based issuer who burst on to the scene with the launch of the first hedge fund ETFs in 2009, announced this week that it would make zero capital gains distributions for all five of its funds. IndexIQ has found a sizable market for its hedge fund replication ETFs (QAI has [...]

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Merger Arbitrage ETF Offers Play on Improving Economy

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:00:51 -0500

ETF aims to be hedge fund for the masses

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:17:00 -0500

A Nov. 29 MarketWatch ETF Investing column incorrectly reported that the IQ ARB Merger Arbitrage ETF uses other exchange-traded funds for its short exposure. The fund uses index-futures contracts to short markets.

ETF aims to be hedge fund for the masses

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:03:00 -0500

A new exchange-traded fund promises to mimic hedge-fund strategies in an easily traded and lower-fee vehicle, but investors may want to see how this second-generation ETF fares in the real world before rushing in.

Merger Arbitrage ETF Launches

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:30:55 -0500

The IQ ARB Merger Arbitrage ETF (NYSEArca: MNA) launched this week, and gives investors another way to play the anticipated increase in merger and acquisition activity in the coming year. The latest ETF from Index IQ is another passageway for investors to take an alternative route to diversification within their portfolios. The ETF MNA is [...]

Two ETFs to Play the Rebound in M&A Activity

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:00:04 -0500

News about

Should Traders Consider M&A Rumors?

A Closer Look At Merger Arbitrage ETPs

Related Posts:

Let’s Make a Deal: A Look at Merger Arbitrage ETFs

ProShares Launches Merger Arbitrage ETF – ETF News And Commentary

ProShares to List Merger ETF on BATS Exchange

ProShares Planning Merger Arbitrage ETF (MRGR) – ETF News And Commentary

Two ETFs for the Muddle Through Economy – ETF News And Commentary

What could possibly go wrong?

ETF Chart of the Day: Merger Arbitrage Funds

Four Hedge Fund ETFs Your Broker Forgot To Tell You About

ProShares Launches Hedge Fund Replication ETF (HDG)

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When ETNs Are Better Than ETFs

Related Posts:

How ETFs Have Democratized Investing

Related Posts:

Credit Suisse Adds Leveraged Merger Arb ETN (CSMB)

Related Posts:

IndexIQ Files For International Small Cap, Asian Tiger ETFs

Related Posts:

Using ETFs To Access Alternatives

Related Posts:

7 Regional Bank ETFs Betting on M&A Pickup

Deal-Making, Tax Cuts and China Lift Metals ETFs

4 ETFs to Watch If Tax Breaks Pass

An ETF to Capture the M&A Boom

ETF Pipeline Grows: More Hedge Fund Products, VIX ETNs In The Works

ETF Spotlight: Index IQ Merger Arbitrage (MNA)

Credit Suisse Launches Merger ETN (CSMA)

An ETF for the M&A Pickup

Merger-arbitrage ETF banks on M&A pickup

M&A ETF (MNA) Holds Up During Slump

ETFs For Increased M&A Activity

Closer Look At Hedge Fund ETFs

Talking Hedge Fund ETFs, Inflation-Proofing, And More With Adam Patti

Will Cash-Rich Companies Boost MNA and PKW?

Will Cash-Rich Companies Boost MNA And PKW?

Five ETFs For A Tumbling Euro

Five ETFs For A Tumbling Euro

Credit Suisse Launches Hedge Fund ETN (CSLS)

Alternative ETFs: Sophisticated Strategies in a Simple Package

Checking In On Ten Major ETF Launches From 2009 « Michael Johnston »

Checking In On Ten Major ETF Launches From 2009

What’s In A Name: A Look Inside ETF Tickers

What’s In A Name: A Look Inside ETF Tickers

How To Make The Most Of A Resurgent M&A Market In 2010

IndexIQ Perfect On Capital Gains, Van Eck Close

Merger Arbitrage ETF Offers Play on Improving Economy

ETF aims to be hedge fund for the masses

ETF aims to be hedge fund for the masses

Merger Arbitrage ETF Launches

Two ETFs to Play the Rebound in M&A Activity