Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, is known for betting on tech companies she believes can “disrupt” the future. But she doesn’t hesitate to shuffle her portfolio, sometimes trimming or adding to positions within days of making a move.
That’s what she just did, selling shares of a hot tech name only a week after buying them.
Wood’s funds have experienced a volatile ride this year, swinging from sharp losses to strong gains.
In January and February, the Ark funds rallied as investors bet on the Trump administration’s potential deregulation that could benefit Wood’s tech bets. But the momentum faded in March and April, with the funds trailing the market as top holdings slid amid growing concerns over the macroeconomy and trade policies.
Now, the Ark’s funds are showing solid performance again. As of Sept. 26, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up 44% year-to-date, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 13% gain.
Wood’s remarkable return of 153% in 2020 helped build her reputation and attract loyal followers. Her strategy can lead to sharp gains during bull markets but also painful losses in downturns, like in 2022, when ARKK dropped more than 60%.
Those swings have weighed on her long-term results. As of Sept. 26, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of negative 1.3%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 16.8% over the same period.
Cathie Wood’s investment strategy explained
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.
She thinks these companies have the potential to reshape industries and bring outsized long-term returns, but their volatility leads to major fluctuations in Ark funds’ values.
Over the 10 years ending in 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to an analysis by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking.
Still, Wood has been bullish on the market. In a letter to investors published in late April, she dismissed predictions of a recession dragging into 2026 and struck an optimistic tone for tech stocks.
“During the current turbulent transition in the U.S., we think consumers and businesses are likely to accelerate the shift to technologically enabled innovation platforms, including artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, blockchain technology, and multiomics sequencing,” she said.
