Tesla and Bitcoin are changing people's lives

Speaking at the Exchange ETF conference in Miami on Tuesday, Cathy Wood, founder of Ark Investment Management, said the private market seems to understand opportunities better than the stock market when assessing the value of disruptive innovations, as she discussed the recent setbacks of her innovation-focused investment strategy.

"The private market understands this," Wood said, referring to company valuations in venture capital deals. For the most part, however, Mr Wood sees "no deterioration" in fundamentals, even though ARK's stock market bets on disruptive innovation have fallen sharply this year.

"On risk off days, we always concentrate our portfolio" in favour of the "highest conviction stocks" identified by ARK, says Mr Wood.

Mr Wood's flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), is down about 37% this year and about 10% last week alone.

At Tuesday's event, Wood was asked about how much she communicates with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his relationship with Twitter, where he recently became a major shareholder.

"I think people will be surprised at how little ELON and I talk," Wood said, saying ARK was interested in Tesla's technology, including its AI strategy, robotics and battery technology, and of course Musk's "vision."

As for Musk's tweets, which have more than 81 million followers, Wood said: "All publicity is good publicity for Elon." Tesla spends "zero" on advertising, she said.

Wood also said ARK supports "radical transparency" in the financial services industry. "Our research is free and we share our ideas," she said.

Ark discloses its holdings on a daily basis, a level of transparency that could help boost shareholder confidence in the company's investment strategy, and some investors might use that information for their own personal portfolios, Mr. Wood said.

"Innovation is happening at an accelerating rate, and Tesla and Bitcoin alone have changed people's lives," Wood said. Speaking at the Exchange ETF conference in Miami on Tuesday, Cathy Wood, founder of Ark Investment Management, said the private market seems to understand opportunities better than the stock market when assessing the value of disruptive innovations, as she discussed the recent setbacks of her innovation-focused investment strategy.

"The private market understands this," Wood said, referring to company valuations in venture capital deals. For the most part, however, Mr Wood sees "no deterioration" in fundamentals, even though ARK's stock market bets on disruptive innovation have fallen sharply this year.

"On risk off days, we always concentrate our portfolio" in favour of the "highest conviction stocks" identified by ARK, says Mr Wood.

Mr Wood's flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), is down about 37% this year and about 10% last week alone.

At Tuesday's event, Wood was asked about how much she communicates with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his relationship with Twitter, where he recently became a major shareholder.

"I think people will be surprised at how little ELON and I talk," Wood said, saying ARK was interested in Tesla's technology, including its AI strategy, robotics and battery technology, and of course Musk's "vision."

As for Musk's tweets, which have more than 81 million followers, Wood said: "All publicity is good publicity for Elon." Tesla spends "zero" on advertising, she said.

Wood also said ARK supports "radical transparency" in the financial services industry. "Our research is free and we share our ideas," she said.

Ark discloses its holdings on a daily basis, a level of transparency that could help boost shareholder confidence in the company's investment strategy, and some investors might use that information for their own personal portfolios, Mr. Wood said.

"Innovation is happening at an accelerating rate, and Tesla and Bitcoin alone have changed people's lives," Wood said.

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