‘Market Wizard’ Benedict to Relaunch WZRD ETF

Legendary former hedge fund manager Larry Benedict is rejoining the ETF ranks by relaunching the Opportunistic Trader ETF (WZRD) that was shuttered after just seven weeks earlier this year.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Benedict, who currently operates The Opportunistic Trader investing newsletter, plans to reintroduce the short-term options trading strategy in an ETF wrapper by Nov. 1.

Originally launched on March 20, WZRD grew to more than $25 million and gained more than 2% before it was liquidated on May 8 for reasons related to the “custodian, the trust and prime broker,” Benedict said.

“We thought it was in the best interest of everyone to move it, but we had to close it and relaunch it,” he added.

WZRD is an actively managed strategy that will charge 99 basis points.

WZRD Performance Before Closing May 8

This will mark Benedict’s second move back into portfolio management since leaving the hedge fund business in 2013, when he managed approximately $1 billion.

Benedict, Featured in "Market Wizards"

Benedict is renowned as one of the featured traders in the Market Wizards books by Jack Schwager.

Based in Boca Raton, Fla., Benedict has been writing about investing through his newsletter since 2018.

He said the WZRD ETF will be an absolute return strategy that will be benchmarked to the S&P 500 Index, “but I feel like it should do much better when markets are in trouble.”

Technically, Benedict will be the subadvisor to the fund, with Tuttle Capital Management handling the role of ETF advisor.

“Right now, there is nothing else like this fund in the ETF space,” said Tuttle Capital chief executive Matthew Tuttle.

“It’s completely unique to trade options to generate absolute returns in an ETF,” Tuttle added.

According to the SEC filing, WZRD will obtain exposure to companies with market capitalizations of at least $100 billion, but the fund maintains the flexibility to invest up to 25% of its net assets in smaller companies.

The filing details that WZRD “expects to have significant exposure to companies in the information technology sector” and most positions will be held for less than one week.