State Street to Provide ETF Servicing to Water Island Capital’s Initial Index ETF

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) today announced that it has been appointed as the ETF servicing agent for Water Island Capital’s first ETF. Water Island Capital (WIC) received regulatory approval for the AltShares Merger Arbitrage ETF (NYSE: ARB), tracking the Water Island Merger Arbitrage USD Hedged Index, which seeded on May 6 and listed for trading on May 7, 2020.

State Street will provide services including basket creation, settlement, custody, fund accounting, electronic order-taking, financial reporting and transfer agency services to WIC. State Street has worked with WIC closely for the past two years as they developed their ETF product, and was able to share its knowledge about the ETF marketplace, including industry best practices. State Street also formed a launch project team that helped WIC get to this point.

“The marketplace continues to grow and State Street is committed to collaborating with clients to bring their strategies to market utilizing the ETF investment wrapper,” said Frank Koudelka, Global ETF Product Specialist at State Street. “Our firm has been providing custody, fund accounting and a broad range of fund administration services for Water Island’s mutual funds for more than ten years; and we are pleased to expand that partnership to help bring their liquid alternative ETF to market in order to help them meet increasing demands of ETF investors.”

“For nearly 20 years, we have strived to make alternative investment strategies predicated on corporate catalysts – such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and refinancings – accessible to the broad investing public,” said John Orrico, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Water Island Capital. “With the AltShares Merger Arbitrage ETF, we are pleased to extend this mission with our accomplished partners, State Street, to the community of investors seeking the benefits that a passive, transparent ETF can provide.”

State Street has serviced ETFs since their inception more than 25 years ago. Today, the firm is the largest global ETF servicer, servicing close to 70% of US ETF assets1, and is the only provider serving all major ETF regions.

About State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $31.86 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $2.69 trillion* in assets under management as of March 31, 2020, State Street operates globally in more than 100 geographic markets and employs approximately 39,000 worldwide. For more information, visit State Street's website at www.statestreet.com.

*Assets under management as of March 31, 2020 includes approximately $50 billion of assets with respect to which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) serves as marketing agent; SSGA FD and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated

About Water Island Capital

Water Island Capital LLC is a privately-owned asset management firm focused solely on event-driven investment strategies with approximately $2.5 billion under management as of December 31, 2019. Water Island Capital manages a suite of event-driven investment strategies in both private and public vehicles including the Arbitrage Fund, the Water Island Diversified Event-Driven Fund, the Water Island Credit Opportunities Fund and the Water Island Long/Short Fund. ARB is the first ETF to be launched in Water Island Capital’s AltShares ETF lineup.

For complete information on this ETF, visit http://altsharesetfs.com.

1Statistics compiled using ETFGI’s ETF Monthly Insights as-of March 2020 and State Street’s internal research

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Brendan Paul 401 664-9182 [e-mail]