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The Financial Times has published a lengthy profile of Cathie Wood, the star fund manager whose key fund has suffered as futuristic tech stocks have fallen out of favor.
The ARK Innovation Fund
ARKK,
ARK Invest’s flagship fund, has fallen nearly 50% from its peak of last year, and according to Morningstar, most investors in Ark’s funds are underwater since the better returns came when it had a small asset base. Investors still believe in Wood, however, as the fund has drawn in $488 million of inflows this year, according to FactSet data.
In addition to quoting Wood, the newspaper reached out to her former boss, Lisa Shalett, who’s now chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and oversaw her at AllianceBernstein. Shallett acknowledged Wood’s effort, saying she would be weighed down by bags and bags of research, but said her investing style was a rollercoaster ride.
“Cathie’s a boom or bust investor because she doesn’t disinvest or risk manage. This is the challenge that she has had for her entire career,” said Shallett.
“We all love a great story. She does her research; she believes what she believes. Sometimes when the market moves against her, she digs in more,” Shallett added.
Wood hasn’t lost her optimism. “For compliance reasons, I’ve been asked not to give numbers, but the compound annual rate of return expectation that we have during the next five years is the largest I have ever seen in my career,” she said.
