Virtus Westchester Event-Driven Fund Class - A
WCERX
NASDAQ- -
USD
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Capital Structure
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.Working Capital
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in mil. unless spec.Growth Rates
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in mil. unless spec.Quarterly Revenue
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in mil. unless spec.Quarterly Earnings Per Share
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in mil. unless spec.- Sector
- Financial Services
- Industry
- Asset Management
- Address
- 101 Munson Street Greenfield MA United States of America 01301
- IPO Date
- Mar 22, 2017
- CIK
- 0001572617
- Website
- virtus.com
- Similar Companies
- Business
- Virtus Westchester Event-Driven Fund Class A (WCERX) is an open-end mutual fund that seeks consistent, positive absolute returns with lower volatility relative to traditional equities by investing in global corporate reorganizations and event-driven opportunities. The Fund, managed by Westchester Capital Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc., primarily employs merger-arbitrage and event-driven strategies, including investments in equity and debt securities of companies involved in publicly announced mergers, acquisitions, split-ups, spin-offs, recapitalizations, late-stage bankruptcies, share buybacks, restructurings, and other special situations; it maintains a diversified portfolio across sectors such as communication services, financials, industrials, and materials, with typical long positions numbering around 50-60 and net exposure managed through hedging to minimize market correlation. As of late 2025, the Fund holds approximately $117 million in assets under management, with a net expense ratio of 1.85% for the Class A shares, and features allocations across arbitrage (around 47%), special situations (23%), credit-catalyst opportunities (20%), and restructurings (11%). Westchester Capital Management, headquartered in Valhalla, New York, was originally founded in 1980 and has specialized in event-driven strategies since launching The Merger Fund in 1989, pioneering liquid alternative investments with over 40 years of experience evaluating more than 10,000 transactions. The WCERX share class, domiciled in the United States, was incepted on March 22, 2017, and operates globally with primary regional exposure to the United States (77%), followed by Europe, Asia, and Canada; it targets individual and institutional investors seeking portfolio diversification, low beta (0.19), and returns driven by transaction catalysts rather than broad market directions. In September 2021, Virtus Investment Partners completed its acquisition of Westchester Capital Management, integrating its $5 billion in event-driven assets and expanding Virtus' alternative offerings while retaining the leadership of co-presidents and co-CIOs Roy Behren and Michael Shannon. Recent operational updates through 2025 include robust deal flow with multiple completions monthly—such as four in November 2025 involving positions like Chart Industries/Baker Hughes and CyberArk/Palo Alto Networks—and portfolio redeployments into new opportunities, maintaining high invested levels (103%-150%) across 49-59 transactions amid elevated M&A volume exceeding $779 billion year-to-date. The Fund continues to emphasize risk-managed strategies, with top holdings as of September 2025 including Endeavor Group, Mr. Cooper Group, Kellanova, and Frontier Communications, comprising over 51% of the portfolio, and no major broken deals reported recently.