Her ARK Invest exchange-traded funds haven’t matched the market’s performance in 2021, and some wonder if the revered manager has lost her touch.
For the most part, many of the high-growth stocks that played prominent roles in the ARK Innovation ETF and other Wood-led ETFs topped out early in the year.
Yet poor performance from telehealth pioneer Teladoc Health and Zoom Video Communications has weighed on total returns, and pullbacks in other stocks that were high-flyers earlier in the year haven’t helped.
Moreover, Wood’s other funds show a much more varied track record.
Conversely, declines for ARK Invest’s ETFs in the fintech and next-generation internet field are down just a few percent for the year.
The anti-Wood sentiment has gotten so prominent that a new exchange-traded fund has come out that runs explicitly counter to her strategy.
Indeed, a recent suggestion from the ARK Invest leader would combine her pro-innovation strategy with short-selling of major stocks in benchmarks like the S&P 500.
Most importantly, focusing on 2021’s performance unfairly leaves out Wood’s amazing gains in 2020, which have led to three-year returns on ARK funds ranging from 134% to 195%.