Cathie Wood’s bold bets have yet to pay off

If you invested in her ARK Innovation ETF five years ago, you’d be in the red today.

For a while there, many felt like Cathie Wood’s bold bet on a trendy group of disruptive tech companies was one of the best in recent investing memory.

Cathie Wood’s bold bets have yet to pay off

To be clear, it could be one day. Just not yet.

In a trend pattern that very closely resembles the tortoise and the hare: If five years ago you had invested in Wood’s high-flying ARK Innovation ETF — which holds shares in pandemic darlings like Zoom and Teladoc Health, and at one point skyrocketed 300% — you would now be down on your investment.

  • Wood’s fund invests heavily in growth stocks that jumped when interest rates and inflation were low. As the economic tides have turned, so has the fund.
  • For comparison: If five years ago you had invested in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns steadier, profitable, “boring” businesses, you would now be up 59%.

Wood seems unphased. She’s countered critics by emphasizing her focus on a long-term outlook, and has even predicted the price of bitcoin will hit $1m by 2030.

Topics: Investing

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