Tue, Nov 11, 2025
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Industry Updates

Morgan Creek and EXOS launch SPAC Arbitrage ETF

Wednesday, February 02, 2022
Opalesque Industry Update - Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based asset manager Morgan Creek Capital Management and New York-based fintech company EXOS Financial launched the Morgan Creek - Exos Active SPAC Arbitrage ETF, an actively managed ETF with an investment strategy that invests in SPACs, and their underlying US Treasury collateral, to earn a potentially higher return per unit of risk than traditional cash alternatives.

CSH seeks to provide investors with short-duration investment exposure that still earns a meaningful positive return. The fund seeks to achieve this objective by holding a diversified portfolio of "pre-combination SPACs", which are structurally collateralized by US T-bills or equivalents and embedded equity options. It actively manages the underlying portfolio in an attempt to optimize returns relative to the risk to its underlying collateral value.

"There has never been a more challenging time to be a saver", said Mark Yusko, CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management. "Record high inflation and ultra-low interest rates make it extremely difficult for investors to make the most of their cash. Banks are paying close to zero and other cash alternatives like credit, or longer duration bonds, offer only a small incremental return, but can leave investors with significant losses in the worst case scenarios".

"We're thrilled about bringing this new ETF to market in collaboration with Morgan Creek," said Peter Early, Head of Business Development at EXOS Financial. "CSH is built for investors looking to earn a return on their liquid assets without compromising on safety. We do this by leveraging our expertise and extensive knowledge of SPACs while we have the ability to redeem our shares for the underlying collateral at some date in the future. This stage of a SPAC's life cycle is unique because it offers the protection of the US government credit with the upside potential of equity, which is quite appealing."

CSH will hold a diversified portfolio that is weighted based on a proprietary valuation analysis which is updated in real time. "We believe that active management is absolutely essential when navigating the world of SPACs. Our ETF manages risk through consistent and systematic rebalancing using a structured analytical framework that compares the expected return of each security in the universe relative to its risk to the underlying collateral value. This proprietary process is what keeps the portfolio well-positioned for small, but consistent, gains without over-exposing investors to any single security," said PM Dewey Tucker.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, are hybrid investment vehicles where trust assets are collateralized by a pool of US Treasuries, and include equity options embedded in the structure that could allow for additional return above the risk-free rate. CSH is designed to capitalize on these key structural features of SPACs, and therefore is not necessarily dependent on the performance of the SPAC market as a whole, or on the performance of the individual companies that utilize SPACs to go public.

The expense ratio of CSH is 1.25%.

What do you think?

   Use "anonymous" as my name    |   Alert me via email on new comments   |   
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. Global fintech investment slumps to seven-year low of $95.6bn[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Global fintech investment plummeted to $95.6 billion across 4,639 deals in 2024, marking its lowest level since 2017, as investors grappled with persistent macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions, revealed a study. According to the Pulse of Fintech H2'

  2. Opalesque Exclusive: Private capital deal value climbed 19% in 2024[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Private capital deal value climbed 19% in 2024, according to the latest data from the Global Private Capital Association. Growth was driven by big-ticket investments across Southeast Asia, Latin America and Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). Investor confidence

  3. Opalesque Roundup: Citco: 77% of hedge funds achieved positive returns in January 2025: hedge fund news[more]

    In the week ending February 21st, 2025, a report revealed that hedge funds enjoyed one of their best opening months this decade in January, as Equity and Multi-Strategy funds posted strong returns. Funds administered by the Citco group of companies (Citco) delivered a weighted average return of 4%,

  4. Opalesque exclusive: Permuto's new equity unbundling product to change investment model[more]

    Opalesque Geneva for New Managers: Here is a different way of owning stocks coming to you soon: the option of holding just the dividend portion of a stock, independent of its price movements. Or capturing the stock&

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: Hedge funds outperform mutual funds in managing extreme risk contagion - key insights for investors[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Hedge funds and mutual funds are among the most prominent vehicles for investors seeking growth and diversification. However, a critical question persists: which fund ty