Alternative Market Briefing

Horizons ETFs launches the worlds first black swan ETFs

Monday, June 04, 2012

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Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc. and its affiliate AlphaPro Management Inc. have launched two new exchange traded funds (ETFs) that give retail investors the opportunity to hedge against black swan events. Horizons Universa Canadian Black Swan ETF and the Horizons Universa US Black Swan ETF are the first ETFs to be launched that pair a tail risk hedge with an equity index investment.

The ETFs have already launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Universa Investments L.P. will sub-advise the Black Swan ETFs and employ its proprietary portfolio protection strategies. Universa is an investment management firm that specializes in convex tail hedging and investing. Universa was founded in 2007 by Mark Spitznagel, its Chief Investment Officer, with over a decade of implementation and development of its focused, positive asymmetric investment approach. Universa's Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is considered the premier specialist of rare events ("Black Swans") and has had a working relationship with Universa since its inception.

As it relates to stock investing, a Black Swan event refers to sudden and unpredictable events that have widespread systemic impact like the one witnessed during the financial crisis in 2008. Dr. Taleb, who coined the term "Black Swan", has argued that Black Swan events happen far more freq......................

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