Balyasny, Blackstone Bet Against Wood’s Top ETF as Tech Faltered

Cathie Wood’s recent travails have been a boon for some of her peers in money management.

About two dozen investment advisers including Balyasny Asset Management and a unit of Blackstone Group Inc. bought bearish put options during the first quarter on the Ark Innovation exchange traded fund, her firm’s main investment vehicle, regulatory filings show.

While money managers often buy puts on ETFs to protect their portfolios against market declines, the options are typically tied to passively managed index funds such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

Yet technology-focused Ark Innovation grew so large so quickly -- to ...