VARCX — First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund
Data updated: 2026-08-24
VARCX — First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund. United States Large Cap Blend / Core Equity · $1.63B AUM. Holdings, fees, performance and SEC filings.
VARCX Fund Overview
VARCX — First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund is a US mutual fund managed by Investment Managers Series Trust II, categorised as United States Large Cap Blend / Core Equity. ABC INVEST provides holdings, performance, costs, cashflows, risk data, prospectus documents and SEC filings, sourced from SEC filings.
- Type: US mutual fund
- Manager: Investment Managers Series Trust II
- Category: United States Large Cap Blend / Core Equity
- Assets under management: $1.63B
- 1-year return: 3.5%
- Ticker: VARCX
- SEC CIK: 0001587982
- SEC series ID: S000048195
- Share class ID: C000248222
VARCX Holdings
Top 10 holdings of First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund by percentage of net assets, from the fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Holding | % of net assets |
|---|---|
| Taylor Morrison Home Corp | 11.29% |
| Chart Industries Inc | 9.47% |
| ARC Resources Ltd | 5.83% |
| Nuvalent Inc | 5.42% |
| National Storage Affiliates Tr | 4.82% |
| MSILF Government Portfolio | 4.46% |
| Apogee Therapeutics Inc | 4.35% |
| Sila Realty Trust Inc | 3.91% |
| Webster Financial Corp | 3.40% |
| Janus Henderson Group PLC | 3.26% |
VARCX Portfolio Allocation
Asset-class allocation of First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Asset class | Allocation |
|---|---|
| Equity | 83.6% |
| Other | 11.9% |
| Cash & Equivalents | 7.5% |
VARCX Performance
Total returns for VARCX (as of 2026-09-01), from SEC filings.
| Period | Total return |
|---|---|
| YTD | 1.4% |
| 1 year | 3.5% |
| 3 years (annualised) | 4.3% |
VARCX Risk Information
Risk metrics for VARCX, derived from monthly returns in SEC filings.
- 1-year volatility (annualised): 0.8%
VARCX Costs and Fees
VARCX costs about $280 per $10,000 invested per year in fund expenses.
- Net expense ratio: 2.80%
- Gross expense ratio: 2.80%
- Portfolio turnover: 293%
- Brokerage commissions: 13.02 bps of average net assets (SEC N-CEN)
VARCX Cashflows
Over the 12 months to 2026-06, First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund had net inflows of $183.58M, from monthly SEC N-PORT filings.
| Month | Net flow |
|---|---|
| 2026-06 | $2.61M |
| 2026-05 | $14.25M |
| 2026-04 | $18.80M |
| 2026-03 | $10.31M |
| 2026-02 | −$4.51M |
| 2026-01 | −$438.35K |
VARCX Debt Constituents
No individual debt constituents are reported in First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.
VARCX Prospectus and SEC Filings
Official First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund filings on SEC EDGAR — prospectus, portfolio holdings and annual reports.
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2026-01-27
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2025-01-28
- Prospectus supplement (497) — filed 2024-11-18
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-08-24
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-05-22
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-02-24
- Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2024-12-12
- Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2023-12-14
Related Funds
Other United States Large Cap Blend / Core Equity funds tracked on ABC INVEST:
Data Sources
ABC INVEST compiles this page from public filings made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through EDGAR: portfolio holdings and monthly cashflows from Form N-PORT, expenses and returns from fund prospectuses (Form 485BPOS) and the SEC DERA Risk/Return Summary data sets, annual data from Form N-CEN, and shareholder reports from Form N-CSR.