ARK Investment Management (ARK), a New York-based investment adviser focused solely on disruptive innovation in the public equity markets, has marked the five-year anniversary of four of its first four actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Introduced in September and October of 2014, the funds are the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG), the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ).
“I founded ARK Invest to focus solely on disruptive innovation, primarily in the public equity markets, and to add new dimensions to research, becoming the first “sharing economy” company in the asset management space,” says Cathie Wood, ARK’s Founder, Chief Investment Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. “Innovation typically offers long-term growth opportunities but, with an accelerating shift of funds toward passive and index-based investing, as well as outsized flows into private markets, I believe a void in research and portfolio management has opened up in the public markets. With our focus on public equities, ARK aims to fill this void by investing in the most innovative companies that we believe will deliver long-term growth during the next five to ten years.”
Each fund seeks to identify large-scale investment opportunities resulting from technological innovations.
• ARKK is built on the cornerstone investments across all of the firm’s innovation themes. As of 31 October, 2019, the Fund has USD1.6 billion assets under management (AUM) and has returned 18.90 per cent year-to-date and 18.75 per cent annualised since inception on 31 October, 2014.
• ARKG captures innovations from the genomic revolution, including gene editing, therapeutics, bioinformatics, molecular diagnostics, and stem cells. As of 31 October, 2019, the fund has USD397 million AUM and has returned 24.56 per cent year-to-date and 9.12 per cent annualised since inception on 31 October, 2014.
• ARKW identifies innovative internet technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, social platforms, e-commerce, and bitcoin and blockchain technology. As of 31 October, 2019, ARKW has USD373 million AUM and has returned 21.04 per cent year-to-date and 24.39 per cent annualised since inception on 30 September, 2014.
• ARKQ provides exposure to autonomous vehicles, energy storage, robotics and automation, 3D printing, and space exploration. As of 31 October, 2019, ARKQ has USD154 million AUM and has returned 13.19 per cent year-to-date and 11.78 per cent annualised since inception on 30 September, 2014.2
“ARK’s suite of exchange traded funds provides investors of all sizes a liquid and cost-efficient vehicle to access long term growth resulting from disruptive innovation,” says Tom Staudt, ARK’s Chief Operating Officer. “We believe that the companies in our strategies are creating and benefitting from the most exciting growth opportunities in the economy, but do not represent a significant weight in most portfolios.”
