Bill Hwang donated money to support Ark Ark’s crops, Cathie Wood reveals

Cathie Wood has revealed that Bill Hwang, a financier whose family office at Archegos Capital has exploded and caused billions of dollars in losses, has played a key role in setting up Armsg asset manager.

In an interview with a television station on Friday, Wood he said he also exchanged views with Hwang on US stocks and especially journalists back in 2013, while Archegos continued to invest in Asia.

Wood made the Ark, which moves exchange trading funds focused on the manufacturing industry, in 2014 after a long career on Wall Street at AllianceBernstein and Jennison Associates.

“He [Hwang] donated seeds to our first four ETFs and we were very grateful. It was a time when marketers were sick of planting new methods, because they would have $ 2m stuck in an ETF that is not going anywhere, “he told CNBC.

“We had to go and get the seed with Bill, when we heard what I had to say about the company I started. . . we were very impressed, and we were impressed with the shares we were interested in, ”he said. “They had just started to learn about them.”

The state-of-the-art technology conference has helped keep the Ark one of the most influential U.S. executives in the world and the one who saved its money. The well-known Innovation Fund now has $ 22bn in assets. The other three Ark funds that Hwang invested were Genomic Revolution, Next Generation Internet, and Autonomous Technology and Robotic coins.

Wood, as Hwang a A devoted Christian, who named the Ark after the gold-plated chest mentioned in the book of Exodus, said he met a former hedge fund administrator when they were both religious advisors serving the youth on Wall Street.

“Coming back from the event, we exchanged stock ideas at the time and I know he bought one of the stocks we relied on a lot,” Wood said.

Banks that served as a major broker to Notes lost $ 10bn at the end of March after Hwang’s main bet on a few US and Chinese sites after his rebellion, among them the media group ViacomCBS.

Asked if Hwang still had a share in any of Ark’s finances, Wood said the ETFs did not know who owned them, and added: “I have never asked him if he kept the money.

Several banks are seeking compensation after losing their business base Notes, which the Financial Times also reported this week is planning to repay the loan. Washington security forces are investigating the fraud.

Wood said he had not spoken to Hwang since the Archegos erupted. “I texted him when I heard about the hardships we all saw and I wish him well,” he told CNBC. “He was with us in the early days and we are very grateful.”