Wood's ARK Plans Launch of 3 Active ETFs in Europe

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Europe will launch three active ETFs next month, including a version of its flagship $7.5bn ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), according to comments from Stuart Forbes, head of ARK Invest Europe, at a recent webinar.

ARK, which manages eight U.S. exchange traded funds in the U.S. managing $13.1 billion, and acts as sub-advisor on another six funds, entered the European market in September with the acquisition of Rize ETF.

It previously said it was looking to launch the active strategies in the first quarter with ARKK being a key focus.

“In terms of our plans in Europe, the immediate focus is launching the new products,” Forbes said. “We are also developing additional product ideas; we were recently in the U.S. to get around the table to define new product lines in the U.S. and Europe, so watch this space.

“You will still see self-indexed products coming out but you will also see a lot of collaboration in the active space.”

ARKK has risen to $7.5 billion in assets from $6.5 billion in the five months since the acquisition, mainly down to market gains, with the ETF returning over 32% since the start of October. Nearly $1 billion in investor cash has been pulled from the fund this year. 

Rize ETF to become ‘sustainable sub-brand’

The group also confirmed that it would not be ditching the original Rize ETF brand, turning it into a “sustainable sub-brand” of ARK Invest Europe.

“Rize ETF will live on as a sub-brand of ARK Invest Europe as a sustainable sub-brand which we can express further product development, not just in Europe but in other global jurisdictions as well,” Forbes said.

The group had previously said the acquisition means it could be more “explicit” in its approach to ESG.

Last month, ETF Stream announced Wood will be joining ETF Ecosystem Unwrapped 2024 as the closing keynote speaker for Day 1 on 22 May.