The lengthy legal battle between ETF Managers Group (ETFMG) and Nasdaq Inc. is becoming increasingly contentious. New Jersey-based ETFMG brought claims against Nasdaq in a New York federal court last week.
Last year, ETFMG removed PureFunds as the brand behind several ETFs, including the popular ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (NYSEArca: HACK). ETFMG also swapped indexes on that ETF and several others to benchmarks offered by Prime Indexes.
In recent court filings, ETFMG alleges Nasdaq favored First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ: CIBR), the most direct competitor to HACK.
“All the upheaval seems to be taking its toll on HACK. The fund lost assets in each of the last five months of 2017, although its fortunes seem to have ticked up in January with $18 million flowing in, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Meanwhile, its rival, the First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF, which goes by the symbol CIBR, has attracted inflows every month since October 2016, bringing its assets to more than $400 million,” reports Bloomberg.