Over the last several weeks we have been working hard on a new feature for premium members that we are very excited to release today. We have started extracting 13F filing data for a group of over 30 funds that either specialize in merger arbitrage or use the strategy for a portion of their portfolio. We are using this data to show how many of these funds hold a specific position in the Merger Arbitrage Tool (MAT) as you can see from the screenshot for Sprint below. When you click on the + sign to the left of the stock symbol in the MAT, there is a box to the far right that will display the list of funds with a position in that stock.
If you are familiar with 13F filings feel free to skip the next several paragraphs.
A Brief Primer on 13F Filings:
Funds and institutional managers with over $100 million in assets under management (AUM) have to file a form with the SEC called the 13F and provide an update on the stock and options positions they hold every quarter. They have to provide this information within 45 days after the end of the quarter.
For example, Paulson & Company with over $8.57 billion in AUM (as of the end of Q1 2019), has to file the 13F for Q2 2019 on or before August 14, 2019. Funds not only have to disclose the positions they hold in their portfolio (with a few exceptions), but they also have to report their AUM at the end of each quarter in their 13F. You can check out the Q1 2019 13F for Paulson & Company on the SEC website here and their positions here. As you can see from their holdings, they have a long position in Celgene (CELG) and appear to have hedged that position via put options. They also have exposure to Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) via call options and had a position in Red Hat, a deal that was consummated yesterday.