State Street has been appointed as the exchange-traded fund (ETF) servicing agent for Water Island Capital’s first ETF.
Water Island Capital (WIC) received regulatory approval for the AltShares Merger Arbitrage ETF, tracking the Water Island Merger Arbitrage USD Hedged Index, which seeded on 6 May and listed for trading on 7 May 2020.
State Street will provide services including basket creation, settlement, custody, fund accounting, electronic order-taking, financial reporting and transfer agency services to WIC.
It was noted that State Street has worked with WIC closely for the past two years as it developed WIC’s ETF product.
Frank Koudelka, global ETF product specialist at State Street, said: “The marketplace continues to grow and State Street is committed to collaborating with clients to bring their strategies to market utilising the ETF investment wrapper.”
Koudelka continued: “Our firm has been providing custody, fund accounting and a broad range of fund administration services for Water Island’s mutual funds for more than ten years; and we are pleased to expand that partnership to help bring their liquid alternative ETF to market in order to help them meet increasing demands of ETF investors.”
John Orrico, founder and chief investment officer of Water Island Capital, commented: “For nearly 20 years, we have strived to make alternative investment strategies predicated on corporate catalysts – such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and refinancings – accessible to the broad investing public.”
“With the AltShares Merger Arbitrage ETF, we are pleased to extend this mission with our accomplished partners, State Street, to the community of investors seeking the benefits that a passive, transparent ETF can provide,” Orrico added.
