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Defiance ETFs has launched the first exchange-traded fund that tracks special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), which are shell companies that have no operations and raise capital through initial public offerings for the sole purpose of acquiring one or more companies with existing operations. SPACs are also known as "blank check" companies.
They have been around for decades but are having a record-breaking year in 2020, raising over $41 billion, according to Bloomberg.
The Defiance Next Gen SPAC Derived ETF trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SPAK and has a 0.45% net expense ratio. The ETF has 29 holdings, rebalanced on a quarterly basis, with 80% weighted toward IPO companies derived from SPACs like DraftKings and Virgin Galactic Holdings and 20% allocated to common stock of newly listed SPACs, ex-warrants.
SPAK "allows both financial advisors and retail investors to participate in an IPO private equity style of investing, which until now, was only available to large financial institutions," Defiance said. It added that the ETF structure provides investors "access the most liquid SPAC IPOs in a diversified basket."
SoFi Launches First Weekly Income ETF
In another first for the ETF market, SoFi launched the first ETF to offer weekly income to investors.
(Related: SoFi Files for Its First Bond ETF)
TGIF, so named because the income is delivered every Friday, is an actively managed fund that invests in investment-grade and high-yield U.S. bonds, targets a portfolio duration of less than three years and has a 0.59% expense ratio.
3 TIAA-CREF Quant Funds Are Being Liquidated
Nuveen is liquidating three TIAA-CREF quant funds on Dec. 2, after closing them to new investors Nov. 2, the company disclosed in an SEC filing.
The three funds are the $3 billion TIAA-CREF Quant Large-Cap Growth Fund, the $1.3 billion TIAA-CREF Quant Large-Cap Value Fund and the $2 billion TIAA-CREF Quant International Equity Fund.
"The changes are part of the already in progress absorption of Nuveen's quantitative capabilities into our core investment platform," a company spokesperson said.
