ARK: The five platforms of disruptive innovation

When it comes to investing in disruption a lot of the capital and focus has been on finding opportunities that exist in private markets. Cathie Wood, Chief Investment Officer of ARK Invest, says this focus on private companies and the move towards passive investing created a void in public markets.

In 2014, Wood established ARK and using research methods not available to traditional asset managers set out to identify and invest in innovative and disruptive listed companies. ARK has identified five disruptive themes that form the focus of its investing activity.

“The capital committed to innovation in the public markets has been disappearing because of the move to passive. Many of the breakthrough companies are not in benchmarks at all. So, they’re not receiving the fund flows that they normally would.”

In this exclusive interview, Cathie Wood explains why there isn’t a bubble in disruptive stocks, how banks and the oil industry are becoming value traps, and the future of money.
Ark’s five platforms of disruptive innovation are:
DNA sequencing
Energy storage
Robotics
Artificial intelligence
Blockchain

Talking points
The uncomfortable rally and why there isn’t a bubble in innovative stocks
The five platforms of innovation
Why banks and the oil industry are examples of value traps being created from disruption
What are the risks of there being so much data available to technology companies?
The future of money and the role of digital currencies such as Libra
Why Bitcoin is gaining ‘reserve’ status among cryptocurrencies

Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
00:13 - Why Cathie Wood Founded ARK
02:36 - How ARK is influencing funds management
06:28 - How Cathie Wood finds opportunity through innovation
10:26 - Will the market turn on growth companies?
15:30 - Where Cathie Wood sees value traps arising from innovation
19:33 - Networks are the future of banking
23:01 - Will we see the end of traditional Australian banks?
26:30 - When will the mass adoption of electric cars occur?
29:43 - The role of data in ARK investments
33:08 - The future of money and the role of digital currencies such as Libra
36:19 - Bitcoin is gaining ‘reserve’ status among cryptocurrencies