Now that Ark Invest has become a whale in the stock market, stewarding the largest actively managed ETF and garnering legions of fans, Cathie Wood faces the difficult task of navigating choppy market waters as the “innovation” stocks she’s championed face shaky ground.
Ark Invest’s assets under management ballooned to nearly $54 billion from about $3.9 billion this time last year. Wood has her own Reddit fan page after her flagship fund — Ark Innovation — returned nearly 150% in 2020.
But the fund lost about 15% this week amid weakness in technology stocks pressured by rising interest rates. For only the second time this year, Wood’s Ark Innovation saw outflows to the tune of $465 million on Wednesday.
This tough week revealed Wood’s strategy: Buy the dip on the innovative stocks that got her here. And despite one rough day of outflows, this week showed her investors are not as fickle as perceived and may believe in her long-term philosophy as well.
