Cathie Wood’s ARK Funds Spank BlackRock and State Street in ETF Growth
Posted on 01/22/2021
Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management LLC keeps attracting massive inflows. ARK Investment took in another US$ 1 billion on Wednesday, causing the upstart to pass BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corporation in year-to-date in inflows. ARK is just behind Vanguard in this measure. ARK oversees about US$ 42 billion in exchange-traded fund (ETF) products, a massive increase from less than US$ 4 billion a year ago. ARK oversaw US$ 3.1 billion at the end of 2019 to US$ 34.5 billion at the end of 2020. Wood’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF rocketing 150% last year alone. The firm’s two major distribution partners are Resolute Investment Managers in the U.S. and Nikko Asset Management in the Asia-Pacific region.
ARK Investment is led by its charismatic founder Cathie Wood. ARK specializes in investing in disruptive companies. ARK already runs seven ETFs, focused on areas such as genomics, 3D printing, robotics, and financial technology. ARK Investment plans to grow its offerings with a Space ETF.
Cathie Wood started her career as an assistant at Capital Group. Eventually, she made it to AllianceBernstein where she was chief investment officer of global thematic strategies.
Tesla Bet
Cathie Wood played a role in convincing Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk to keep the company public after Musk’s August 2018 tweet “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.”, sending a letter to the Tesla board that she believed the valuation of Tesla would reach US$ 4,000 in five years. Wood’s prediction became true within three years.
Top 10 Holdings – As of 1/21/2021 – ARK Innovation ETF
| Weight | Company | Ticker | Market Price | Shares Held | Market Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.12% | TESLA INC | TSLA | $844.99 | 2,576,672 | $2,177,262,073.28 |
| 7.54% | ROKU INC | ROKU | $423.64 | 4,252,210 | $1,801,406,244.40 |
| 4.71% | CRISPR THERAPEUTICS AG | CRSP | $185.10 | 6,070,635 | $1,123,674,538.50 |
| 4.60% | TELADOC HEALTH INC | TDOC | $245.50 | 4,474,063 | $1,098,382,466.50 |
| 4.54% | SQUARE INC – A | SQ | $219.62 | 4,940,650 | $1,085,065,553.00 |
| 3.88% | INVITAE CORP | NVTA | $53.13 | 17,456,809 | $927,480,262.17 |
| 2.96% | ZILLOW GROUP INC – C | Z | $145.92 | 4,851,052 | $707,865,507.84 |
| 2.87% | SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY SA | SPOT | $348.30 | 1,964,700 | $684,305,010.00 |
| 2.85% | BAIDU INC – SPON ADR | BIDU | $251.91 | 2,703,967 | $681,156,326.97 |
| 2.51% | PROTO LABS INC | PRLB | $190.11 | 3,157,475 | $600,267,572.25 |
NOTES: Ticker: ARKK. Source: ARK.
ARK Innovation ETF Performance
| ARKK | 1 Month | 3 Months | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Years* | 5 Years* | Since Inception* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV | 12.62% | 37.44% | 152.51% | 152.51% | 52.36% | 45.40% | 36.39% |
| Market Price | 12.60% | 37.55% | 152.83% | 152.83% | 52.34% | 46.03% | 36.42% |
NOTES:*Annualized