Searching for the Next Big Thing

ARK Invest's Cathie Wood talks robotaxis, crypto, AI and more.

- KIM CLARK

CATHIE WOOD is the chief executive and chief investing officer of ARK Invest, whose exchange-traded funds have notched some of the best and worst returns in the market in recent years. The firm’s flagship fund, ARK Innovation, was an early investor in hot technology companies such as Tesla, Nvidia and Salesforce. It returned a blistering 153% in 2020, putting it in the top 1% of similar funds. Investors poured money in, making the fund the nation’s largest actively managed ETF, with nearly $28 billion under management in early 2021.

But rising interest rates are kryptonite to the high-growth stocks Wood favors, and Innovation lost 23% and 67% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. That put it at the very bottom of its category and sparked a mass exodus by investors. ARK’s fortunes reversed again in 2023 as inflation and interest rates moderated. Now with assets of only about $8 billion, Innovation gained more than 35% in 2023 through November 30, and it is once again in the top 1% of its category.

ARK also manages or subadvises 12 other ETFs, with exposure to themes including robotics, genetics, space exploration and financial technology. Five of the funds, launched in November with another firm, are based on cryptocurrency futures contracts or crypto-related stocks. And ARK is hoping for regulatory approval to launch an ETF that holds cryptocurrencies directly. We caught up with Wood in November to see what is top of mind for her now.