An expanding area of the ETF space is that of Hedge Fund replication products. Each fund in the category generally has a unique way of delivering returns using strategies that are typically associated with “hedge fund managers,” such as merger arbitrage of multi-asset real returns, or even managed futures.
Currently, there are fourteen funds in this space, with IndexIQ’s QAI (IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker), MCRO (IQ Hedge Macro Tracker), CPI (IQ CPI Inflation Hedged), and MNA (IQ Merger Arbitrage) standing out as pioneers (they debuted back in early 2009).
They have accumulated roughly $400 million in assets since inception, and there seems to be institutional and advisor driven appetite for additional strategies in this space judging by the launch of new products.
QAI in fact saw a huge volume spike just last week, with more than 1.5 million shares trading in a single session (versus average daily volume of about 75,000 shares).
WDTI (WisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy) is the second largest fund in the Hedge Fund space in terms of assets, having raised $148 million since inception, falling behind QAI as the asset leader.