In This Article:
Cathie Wood, the head of Ark Investment Management, usually focuses on U.S. tech stocks.
Sometimes, she also sees opportunities outside the U.S., with one of her biggest targets overseas being China, the second largest economy in the world.
That was what she did last week. She bought $12 million shares of a Chinese tech stock.
Wood’s flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) , is down 17.41% year-to-date as of March 31, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 lost 10.42% and 4.59% during the same period, respectively.
💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter 💰💵
Opinions on Wood vary. To her supporters, she is a visionary with a remarkable 153% return in 2020. However, her longer-term performance has raised doubts about her aggressive, opportunistic approach.
As of March 31, Ark Innovation ETF, with $6 billion under management, has delivered an annualized three-year return of negative 10.47% and a five-year return of 2.08%.
In comparison, the S&P 500 index has a three-year annualized return of 9.06% and a five-year return of 18.09%.
Cathie Wood’s investment strategy simplified
Wood’s investment strategy is straightforward: Her Ark ETFs typically buy shares in emerging high-tech companies in fields such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology and robotics.
Wood says these companies have the potential to reshape industries, but their volatility leads to major fluctuations in Ark funds' values.
Related: Cathie Wood's net worth: The Ark Invest CEO's wealth & income
Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott calculated that Ark Innovation ETF destroyed $7 billion of shareholder wealth over the 10-year period ended in 2024. That put the ETF as No. 3 on her wealth destruction list for mutual funds and ETFs during that period.
Wood has expressed optimism about a shift to looser regulation under Donald Trump’s presidency.
She said on March 4 that the Trump administration could be even better for investors than Ronald Reagan’s pro-business era, according to Bloomberg.
“The Reagan revolution — and I was there and it was so enjoyable — it was the heyday, the golden age of active equity management,” Wood said. “That’s coming back. I think it’s coming back big time. I think this will dwarf that, and that was pretty good.”
But not all investors share Wood's confidence. The Ark Innovation ETF has seen a net outflow of $2.44 billion over the past 12 months through March 28, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $12 million of Baidu stock
On March 24, Wood’s Ark funds bought 129,451 shares of Baidu Inc (BIDU) .