First Trust Merger Arbitrage Cl C (VARCX)

Fund Assets	1.63B
Expense Ratio	2.80%
Min. Investment	$1,000
Turnover	293.00%
Dividend (ttm)	0.55
Dividend Yield	5.20%
Dividend Growth	n/a
Payout Frequency	Annual
Ex-Dividend Date	Dec 5, 2025

Previous Close	10.67
YTD Return	2.11%
1-Year Return	4.05%
5-Year Return	n/a
52-Week Low	10.42
52-Week High	10.98
Beta (5Y)	n/a
Holdings	207
Inception Date	Jan 31, 2024

About VARCX

First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund Class C is an event-driven mutual fund designed to deliver capital appreciation and returns that are largely uncorrelated with general stock market movements. Its core strategy centers on merger arbitrage, which involves investing primarily in the equity securities of publicly traded companies undergoing significant corporate events such as mergers or acquisitions. The fund's approach typically seeks to capture the price spread between a target company's market price after a deal's announcement and its expected acquisition price, aiming to earn modest but repeatable gains while managing risks tied to deal completion and regulatory factors. This fund can invest across a wide range of sectors and industries, with a focus on U.S. and Canadian issuers, though it may also hold positions in foreign markets and in securities of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). The fund manager employs various hedging techniques and occasionally uses leverage to enhance returns. With a low correlation to traditional stock or bond benchmarks, the fund is often positioned as a diversification tool within investor portfolios, especially for those seeking lower volatility and performance consistency across different market environments.

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

Performance

VARCX had a total return of 4.05% in the past year, including dividends. Since the fund's inception, the average annual return has been 8.89%.

Other Share Classes

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

Symbol	Share Class	Expense Ratio
VARBX	Class I Shares	1.75%
VARAX	Class A Shares	2.07%

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	$0.5541	Dec 5, 2025
Dec 5, 2024	$0.62706	Dec 5, 2024

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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