Wood’s ARK Ventures Into Low-Cost Private Equity Investing

ARK Investment Management, run by founder and high-profile ETF portfolio manager Cathie Wood, launched its first fund focused on private companies on Tuesday, with a $500 minimum investment that’s intended to open venture investing to a wider audience.  

The ARK Venture Fund will invest in venture capital funds and early- to late-stage private and public tech companies, according to a statement from investing app Titan. Investments will take place exclusively on Titan, an app backed by firms including Andreessen Horowitz.  

ARK’s foray into less-liquid assets departs from Wood's "disruptive innovation" strategy, the success of which elevated her to all-star investor status as the value of ARK ETFs like the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) soared last year. ARKK has plummeted 60% so far in 2022, a much steeper decline than the 21% decline in the S&P-500-tracking ETF the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).   

"We seek to augment venture capital and private equity, offering all investors access to what we believe are the most innovative companies throughout their private and public market lifecycles,” Wood said in the statement announcing the fund’s launch. 

ARK has struggled on other fronts recently. The firm announced the closure of its Transparency ETF (CTRU) at the end of July, and its eight remaining ETFs, including the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) have dramatically underperformed broader markets.

Just last week, Wood announced she would step down as portfolio manager of ARK’s two index funds, the 3D Printing ETF (PRNT) and the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL).  

The ARK Venture Fund has a management fee of 2.75% and an expense ratio of 4.22%.  

Contact Shubham Saharan at [email protected]