WisdomTree, Inc 8-K, filed Jan 24, 2022
WisdomTree, Inc. (WT)
About this 8-K
WisdomTree, Inc filed this 8-K on January 24, 2022, reporting on events of January 21, 2022.
Items reported
- Item 5.02: Director or officer change, or executive pay
- Item 9.01: Financial statements and exhibits
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form
CURRENT REPORT
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| Item 5.02. | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers |
Appointment of Harold Singleton III as a Class I Director
On January 21, 2022, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Harold Singleton III to serve as a Class I member of the Board, with an initial term expiring at the Company’s 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. The Board has determined that Mr. Singleton qualifies as an “independent director” as defined under Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules.
Mr. Singleton will receive cash and equity compensation as provided in the Company’s Non-Employee Director Compensation Program. Pursuant to this program, upon appointment to the Board, Mr. Singleton received 6,932 shares of restricted stock under the Company’s 2016 Equity Plan, which shares vest on the first anniversary of the grant date. The Company has entered into its standard director indemnification agreement with Mr. Singleton.
There are currently no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Singleton and any other person pursuant to which Mr. Singleton was appointed to serve as a member of the Board. The Company is not aware of any transaction involving Mr. Singleton requiring disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Mr. Singleton has not yet been appointed to any standing committees of the Board. The Company will file an amendment to this Form 8-K to disclose any such appointments after they are made.
Mr. Singleton, 59, an executive with more than 30 years in the investment management and financial services industry, was most recently Vice President, Managing Director/Head of Manager Selection and Portfolio Construction of Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC), which operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses, from March 2016 to December 2021, and previously Vice President/Head of Client Portfolio Management from July 2014 to March 2016. He served as an independent director and member of the Investment Committee of The Vantagepoint Funds from October 2013 to July 2014, and prior to that, he held multiple investment management roles at PineBridge Investments (formerly AIG Investments) from January 2007 to May 2012, most recently as Managing Director/Head of Asset Management Companies and Global Head of Retail and Intermediary Sales. Mr. Singleton also served as Chairman of PineBridge East Africa and PineBridge Taiwan. His investment management career also includes multiple equity portfolio management and analyst positions at well-known firms, including UBS Global Asset Management from June 2003 to December 2006, Metropolitan West Capital Management from September 2000 to June 2003, and Brinson Partners from December 1996 to September 2000, prior to its acquisition by UBS Global Asset Management. Mr. Singleton serves on the Urban League of Philadelphia Board of Directors and as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Executive Leadership Council, an organization dedicated to the development of global black leaders. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he is a member of the Executive Committee and chairs the Investment Committee of its Board of Trustees, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. Mr. Singleton is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
A copy of the press release containing information about Mr. Singleton’s appointment is being furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Report on Form 8-K.
| Item 9.01. | Financial Statements and Exhibits |
(d) Exhibits:
| Exhibit 99.1 | Press Release, dated January 23, 2022 | |
| Exhibit 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document). | |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| WisdomTree Investments, Inc. | ||||||
| Date: January 24, 2022 | By: | /s/ Marci Frankenthaler | ||||
| Marci Frankenthaler | ||||||
| Chief Legal Officer and Secretary | ||||||
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Exhibit 99.1
WisdomTree Adds Seasoned Financial Services Executive
Harold Singleton III to Board
Third New Independent Director in Three Years
New York, NY—(GlobeNewswire) – January 23, 2022 – WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF), an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager, today announced that Harold Singleton III, an executive with more than 30 years in the investment management and financial services industry, has been appointed to WisdomTree’s Board of Directors. With this appointment, the Board expands to seven directors, six of whom are independent.
Since 2019, WisdomTree has added three independent directors. Mr. Singleton joins Susan Cosgrove and Smita Conjeevaram as the newest directors, each of whom provides a fresh perspective with a focus on driving shareholder value. WisdomTree’s seven directors all possess significant and extensive experience relevant to WisdomTree’s business strategy, including global financial, accounting and compliance expertise, and many years in senior leadership positions in the investment management and financial services industry.
Frank Salerno, WisdomTree Chair of the Board, said, “The Board is delighted to welcome someone of Harold’s caliber as a new independent director. He embodies smart, strategic leadership coupled with expertise that spans global markets, ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion. Harold’s professional focus aligns perfectly with WisdomTree’s own priorities of sustainability, innovation and creating the best investment solutions for clients. We are confident he will bring significant value to WisdomTree and our shareholders.”
Jonathan Steinberg, WisdomTree CEO, said, “Harold joins our Board at an exciting time for WisdomTree as we continue to build on the strong momentum in our asset management business, capturing more of the ever-growing ETP pie through new and existing products and solutions, as evidenced by $4.9 billion in 2021 net flows and more than $500 million in 2022 inflows to date, bringing our total assets under management to $77 billion.”
About Harold Singleton III
Mr. Singleton was most recently Vice President, Managing Director/Head of Manager Selection and Portfolio Construction of Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC), which operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses, and previously as Vice President/Head of Client Portfolio Management from 2014 to 2016. He served as an independent director and member of the Investment Committee of The Vantagepoint Funds from 2013 to 2014, and prior to that, he held multiple investment management roles at PineBridge Investments (formerly AIG Investments) from 2007-2012, most recently as Managing Director/Head of Asset Management Companies and Global Head of Retail and Intermediary Sales. Mr. Singleton also served as Chairman of PineBridge East Africa and PineBridge Taiwan. His investment management career also includes multiple equity portfolio management and analyst positions at well-known firms, including UBS Global Asset Management from 2003 to 2006, Metropolitan West Capital Management from 2000 to 2003, and Brinson Partners from 1996 to 2000, prior to its acquisition by UBS Global Asset Management.
Mr. Singleton serves on the Urban League of Philadelphia Board of Directors and as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Executive Leadership Council, an organization dedicated to the development of global black leaders. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he is a member of the Executive Committee and chairs the Investment Committee of its Board of Trustees, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. Mr. Singleton is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
More information on WisdomTree’s Board of Directors can be found here.
About WisdomTree
WisdomTree Investments, Inc., through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe (collectively, “WisdomTree”), is an ETF and ETP sponsor and asset manager headquartered in New York. WisdomTree offers products covering equity, commodity, fixed income, leveraged and inverse, currency, cryptocurrency and alternative strategies. WisdomTree currently has approximately $77.0 billion in assets under management globally. WisdomTree® is the marketing name for WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain a number of “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about whether changes in the composition of WisdomTree’s Board of Directors will enhance shareholder value and whether WisdomTree will capture more of the ETP market through new and existing products and solutions. These forward-looking statements are based on WisdomTree’s management’s current expectations, estimates, projections and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside WisdomTree’s management’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date of this release. WisdomTree does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release except as may be required by the federal securities laws.
Contact Information:
Media Relations
WisdomTree Investments, Inc.
Jessica Zaloom
+1.917.267.3735
jzaloom@wisdomtree.com
Investor Relations
WisdomTree Investments, Inc.
Jeremy Campbell
+1.646.522.2602
Jeremy.campbell@wisdomtree.com