First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund Class I (VARBX)

Fund Assets	1.63B
Expense Ratio	1.75%
Min. Investment	$500,000
Turnover	293.00%
Dividend (ttm)	0.64
Dividend Yield	5.88%
Dividend Growth	-4.03%
Payout Frequency	Annual
Ex-Dividend Date	Dec 5, 2025

Previous Close	10.85
YTD Return	2.84%
1-Year Return	5.09%
5-Year Return	23.20%
52-Week Low	10.52
52-Week High	11.16
Beta (5Y)	0.02
Holdings	207
Inception Date	Oct 1, 2015

About VARBX

First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund Class I is a mutual fund specializing in merger arbitrage, an event-driven investment strategy focused on companies undergoing significant corporate actions like mergers or acquisitions. The fund seeks to generate returns that are largely uncorrelated with the broad equity and bond markets, offering potential diversification benefits for portfolios. By targeting the price spread between a company’s trading price after a merger announcement and the deal’s completion price, the fund aims to capture the arbitrage opportunity while mitigating exposure to general market volatility. The portfolio predominantly includes equity securities such as common and preferred stocks of firms involved in announced merger transactions, mainly within the United States and Canada, and avoids speculative or unconfirmed deals. With a notable emphasis on downside risk management and stable volatility, this fund typically maintains a low correlation and low beta to traditional asset classes. Its strategy has particular relevance in rising interest rate environments, as arbitrage spreads often widen with higher risk-free rates. The fund is designed for institutional investors seeking capital appreciation and diversification through unique market events rather than market trends.

• Fund Family: First Trust
• Category: Event Driven
• Performance Rating: Average
• Risk Rating: Low
• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Ticker Symbol: VARBX
• Share Class: Class I Shares
• Index: Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond TR

Performance

VARBX had a total return of 5.09% in the past year, including dividends. Since the fund's inception, the average annual return has been 4.04%.

Other Share Classes

These are alternative share classes of the same fund, from the same provider.

Symbol	Share Class	Expense Ratio
VARAX	Class A Shares	2.07%
VARCX	Class C Shares	2.80%

Top 10 Holdings

42.95% of assets

Name	Symbol	Weight
Chart Industries, Inc.	GTLS	7.06%
Hologic, Inc.	HOLX	5.35%
Sealed Air Corporation	SEE	5.32%
Masimo Corporation	MASI	4.53%
Electronic Arts, Inc.	EA	4.39%
TRI Pointe Homes, Inc.	TPH	3.98%
National Storage Affiliates Trust	NSA	3.70%
Air Lease Corporation	AL	3.36%
Clearwater Analytics Holdings, Inc.	CWAN	2.69%
Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	TERN	2.58%

Dividend History

Ex-Dividend	Amount	Pay Date
Dec 5, 2025	$0.63719	Dec 5, 2025
Dec 5, 2024	$0.66397	Dec 5, 2024
Dec 5, 2023	$0.43225	Dec 5, 2023
Dec 5, 2022	$0.09335	Dec 5, 2022
Dec 6, 2021	$0.8873	Dec 6, 2021
Dec 3, 2020	$0.08783	Dec 3, 2020

Data Sources: Tiingo, Twelve Data, and more

Historical data is provided by Tiingo. Delayed stock pricing data is provided by Twelve Data. Several fund data points are also provided by Finnhub.

Last checked:

Aug 27, 2026

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