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IndexUniverse.com – The New York-based ETF provider today filed papers with the Securities & Exchange Commission for three actively managed ETFs: the WisdomTree Real Return Fund, the WisdomTree Managed Futures Fund and the WisdomTree Long-Short Fund.
The Long-Short fund will pair positions in WisdomTree’s own dividend and profits-weighted ETFs against positions in comparable cap-weighted ETFs. The filing notes that WisdomTree’s fundamentally weighted ETFs “have the potential to outperform” traditional cap-weighted indexes, and this fund aims to capitalize on that potential. The Long-Short fund will be market neutral, holding equal long and short positions, aiming to deliver consistent returns regardless of market direction.
Forbes – Bank of East Asia, Hong Kong’s fifth-largest lender, posted a bigger-than-expected second-half loss and slashed its dividend, after selling a debt portfolio at a steep loss.
The bank (BEA), which reported its first half-year loss since the 1960s, warned of a tough market environment this year but said on Tuesday it had no strong need to raise capital in the near term.
‘BEA may not need to raise capital immediately but the market will remain bearish on the stock as loan growth drops and mortgage demand slows down,’ said Castor Pang, a strategist with Sun Hung Kai Financial.
Bloomberg – Paulson & Co., the hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulson, urged Dow Chemical Co. to slash its dividend, sell new stock and issue bonds to pay for the stalled $15.4 billion takeover of Rohm & Haas Co.
Dow should tap its committed $13 billion bridge loan and $4 billion of equity financing to complete the deal, which was supposed to close Jan. 27, Paulson said today in a statement. Dow could then repay the bridge financing with $4 billion of new equity and $5 billion of new bonds. Paulson, which manages $29 billion, is Rohm & Haas’s second-largest shareholder.
Reuters Dubai- Bahrain-based investment bank Investcorp’s INVB.BH profit in the six months to June 30 fell to about a third of the year-ago period as asset-based income dropped on global economic woes.
The company, which generates most of its income from investing Gulf Arab wealth in the West, made $63.3 million in the period, down 71.5 percent from $222.49 million in the year-earlier period.
The Bahrain- and London-listed firm made net income of $151.1 million in the fiscal year to June 30 compared with $302.3 million in the previous fiscal year, it said in a statement on Thursday.
