KEY POINTS
Cathie Wood became a popular investor thanks to her remarkable 153% performance in 2020 and for expressing her investment principles in various media appearances. While her flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) has been successful, holding $7.9 billion in assets and achieving a strong 40% return over the last year, the annualized return has been -26%, and the gain over the past five years has been a modest 2%.
Wood’s Investment Approach
Cathie’s Ark ETFs primarily focus on acquiring stocks of young, small companies within high-tech sectors, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, DNA sequencing, energy storage, and robotics. She sees these areas as pivotal drivers of global economic change.
Given the inherent volatility of these stocks, Ark’s funds are subject to significant fluctuations, and Wood frequently engages in trading activities with her top holdings. Notably, the value of the stock has nearly quintupled in the last 12 months, largely due to the surge in cryptocurrencies.
This prompted Wood to capitalize on the gains by selling off $17 million in Coinbase shares, a move that has been recurring in recent weeks. Despite this, Coinbase remains the largest holding in the Ark Innovation ETF, and Wood remains a strong advocate for cryptocurrencies.
Ark Funds’ Recent Investment
Ark Funds recently purchased 45,758 shares of the well-known social media company Pinterest (PINS), amounting to $1.6 million, and 24,024 shares of Roku (ROKU). However, Roku’s stock has dropped by approximately one-third since February 15, mainly attributed to Walmart’s acquisition of TV maker Vizio, a major rival to Roku.
Additionally, the overall competitive environment in the streaming industry has impacted Roku’s performance. But as per the company’s management, there’s nothing to worry about as Roku is destined for excellence.
