By Salvatore J. Bruno, Chief Investment Officer, IndexIQ.

The coronavirus has impacted different countries with differing severity at different times, so it stands to reason the economic recovery will move forward in different ways as well.

New York-based Water Island Capital has become the latest entrant to the ETF industry with the launch of the AltShares Merger Arbitrage ETF (ARB US) on NYSE Arca. The fund harnesses the firm’s 20-years of experience in managing event-driven portfolios to provide passively managed exposure to a global merger arbitrage investment strategy. John S. Orrico, Founder and CIO of Water Island Capital, said, “We are pleased to bring Water Island’s time-tested approach to merger arbitrage investing to those interested in accessing this strategy through a passively managed ETF.”

First Trust Advisors has launched a new actively managed ETF in the US providing returns similar to those attributable to hedge funds pursuing merger arbitrage strategies. The First Trust Merger Arbitrage ETF (MARB US) has listed on NYSE Arca and comes with an expense ratio of 1.94%. Ryan Issakainen, Senior Vice President, ETF Strategist at First Trust, commented, “Since this ETF is expected to have low correlations to both stocks and bonds, we believe it will be an effective tool for investment professionals seeking to further diversify their clients’ portfolios.”

By Salvatore J. Bruno, Chief Investment Officer, IndexIQ.

After what had been a tumultuous 2019, the end of the year is bringing significant progress on a number of fronts that have had investors on edge for months.

By Salvatore J. Bruno, Chief Investment Officer, IndexIQ. The past decade has been one of the most robust in the history of mergers & acquisitions, with thousands of transactions encompassing trillions of dollars. While I would love to say we saw all of this coming at the time, we had no way of knowing just what sort of decade we were about to embark upon when we brought the IQ Merger Arbitrage ETF (MNA US) to market on November 17, 2009, but planned or not, the timing has certainly been fortuitous.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has granted preliminary exemptive relief to asset managers T. Rowe Price, Fidelity and Natixis and turnkey ETF provider Blue Tractor to offer semi-transparent exchange-traded funds. The relief paves the way for the firms to issue ETFs that employ an actively managed investment approach without being subject to a daily portfolio transparency condition.

Sit Investment Associates has partnered with white-label platform ETF Managers Group to launch an actively managed ETF that targets high-quality, short-term domestic and foreign debt securities. The ETFMG Sit Ultra Short ETF (VALT US) has listed on NYSE Arca and comes with an expense ratio of 0.30%. The fund seeks to maximize current income while preserving capital and maintaining liquidity.

IndexIQ, in partnership with Nasdaq Dorsey Wright, has launched the IQ Alternative Allocation Model. The model provides advisors with an absolute return strategy built around IndexIQ’s suite of liquid alternative ETFs and powered by Nasdaq Dorsey Wright’s relative-strength expertise. Jon Zimmerman, Chief Operating Officer at IndexIQ, commented, “We are delighted to partner with Nasdaq Dorsey Wright to leverage their unparalleled methodology alongside our established expertise in liquid alternative ETFs to offer advisors and their clients lower-cost, innovative hedge fund strategies in a unique investment model.”

By Salvatore J. Bruno, Chief Investment Officer, IndexIQ.

There’s a saying that recessions don’t just happen; they’re the result of policy mistakes. There are differing opinions about the policy steps currently being taken with respect to trade and the Fed’s actions. This is causing market volatility and has economists worried, and more and more are predicting the possibility of recession between now and the end of 2020.

Invesco has announced the launch of the Invesco Quantitative Strategies ESG Global Equity Multi-Factor UCITS ETF on London Stock Exchange and Xetra. The fund provides exposure to an ESG-screened portfolio of global equities while targeting returns attributable to quality, value and momentum risk factors. Gary Buxton, Head of EMEA ETFs at Invesco, commented, “Three of the biggest trends we have seen over the past decade are growing demand for multi-factor strategies, ESG investments, and ETFs more generally. Proven expertise in all these areas has enabled us to respond to investor demand by delivering a multi-factor solution that adheres to strict ESG criteria and has all the benefits you would expect from our ETF structure.”