ARK Invest Acknowledges the Five-Year Anniversary of Its Four Original Actively Managed Exchange Traded Funds

NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK), a New York-based investment adviser focused solely on disruptive innovation in the public equity markets, recognizes the five-year anniversary of four of its actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs). Introduced in September and October of 2014, the funds include the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG), the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ).¹

"I founded ARK Invest to focus solely on disruptive innovation, primarily in the public equity markets, and to add new dimensions to research, becoming the first "sharing economy" company in the asset management space," stated Cathie Wood, ARK's Founder, Chief Investment Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. "Innovation typically offers long-term growth opportunities but, with an accelerating shift of funds toward passive and index-based investing, as well as outsized flows into private markets, I believe a void in research and portfolio management has opened up in the public markets. With our focus on public equities, ARK aims to fill this void by investing in the most innovative companies that we believe will deliver long-term growth during the next five to ten years."

Each fund seeks to identify large-scale investment opportunities resulting from technological innovations.

• ARKK is built on the cornerstone investments across all of the firm's innovation themes. As of October 31, 2019, the Fund has $1.6 billion assets under management (AUM) and has returned 18.90% year-to-date and 18.75% annualized since inception on October 31, 2014.[2]
• ARKG captures innovations from the genomic revolution, including gene editing, therapeutics, bioinformatics, molecular diagnostics, and stem cells. As of October 31, 2019, the fund has $397 million AUM and has returned 24.56% year-to-date and 9.12% annualized since inception on October 31, 2014.²
• ARKW identifies innovative internet technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, social platforms, e-commerce, and bitcoin and blockchain technology. As of October 31, 2019, ARKW has $373 million AUM and has returned 21.04% year-to-date and 24.39% annualized since inception on September 30, 2014.²
• ARKQ provides exposure to autonomous vehicles, energy storage, robotics and automation, 3D printing, and space exploration. As of October 31, 2019, ARKQ has $154 million AUM and has returned 13.19% year-to-date and 11.78% annualized since inception on September 30, 2014.²
  

Note: Past performance does not guarantee future results. The performance data quoted represents past performance and current returns may be lower or higher. The investment return and principal will fluctuate so that an investor's shares when redeemed may be worth more or less than the original cost. For each Funds' most recent month-end and standardized performance please click on the ticker of the associated fund above.

"ARK's suite of exchange traded funds provides investors of all sizes a liquid and cost-efficient vehicle to access long term growth resulting from disruptive innovation," says Tom Staudt, ARK's Chief Operating Officer. "We believe that the companies in our strategies are creating and benefitting from the most exciting growth opportunities in the economy, but do not represent a significant weight in most portfolios."

Since launching its suite of actively managed ETFs in 2014, ARK has become a global investment manager advising assets across four continents, including North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. The firm offers a range of investment vehicles including ETFs, institutional and retail separately managed accounts, US and international mutual funds, and a UCITS fund. As of September 30, 2019, ARK's AUM was approximately $9.6 billion, an indication that ARK's active approach to investing and focus on disruptive innovation is unique to the industry and driving its success. ARK most recently launched the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) in February 2019 and made its full suite of actively managed ETFs available in Canada with its partner Emerge Canada Inc. Listed on the NEO Exchange, the Funds include: Emerge ARK Global Disruptive Innovation ETF (EARK), Emerge ARK Genomics & Biotech ETF (EAGB), Emerge ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (EAFT), Emerge ARK AI & Big Data ETF (EAAI), and the Emerge ARK Autonomous Tech & Robotics ETF (EAUT).

About ARK Investment Management LLC
Headquartered in New York City, ARK Investment Management LLC is a federally registered investment adviser and privately held investment firm with approximately $9.6 billion assets under management as of September 30, 2019. Specializing in thematic investing in disruptive innovation, the firm is rooted in over 40 years of experience in identifying and investing in disruptive innovations that should change the way the world works and deliver outsized growth as industries transform. Through its open research process, ARK identifies companies that it believes are leading and benefiting from cross-sector innovations such as robotics, energy storage, DNA sequencing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology. ARK's investment strategies include: Autonomous Technology and Robotics, Next Generation Internet, Genomic Revolution, Fintech Innovations, 3D Printing, Israel Innovative Technology, Mobility-as-a-Service, Space Exploration, and the overall ARK Disruptive Innovation Strategy. ARK also offers The 3D Printing ETF (PRNT) and the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL).

In July 2016, Resolute Investment Managers, Inc., the parent company of American Beacon Advisors, Inc., announced that it had taken an investment of a minority interest in ARK. In August 2017, Nikko Asset Management ("Nikko AM") acquired a minority stake in ARK to enhance its disruptive innovation focused investment solutions. These partnerships are providing ARK with distribution across the United States and the Asia Pacific regions.

For additional information regarding ARK's funds, please visit http://www.ark-funds.com.

For more information regarding ARK's research and advisor services, please visit http://www.ark-invest.com.

Distributor: Foreside Fund Services, LLC

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of an ARK ETF before investing. This and other information are contained in the ARK ETFs' prospectuses, which may be obtained by visiting www.ark-funds.com. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. 

Companies that ARK believes are capitalizing on disruptive innovation and developing technologies to displace older technologies or create new markets may not in fact do so. Companies that initially develop a novel technology may not be able to capitalize on the technology. These companies may also be exposed to risks applicable to sectors other than the disruptive innovation theme for which they are chosen, and the securities issued by these companies may underperform the securities of other companies that are primarily focused on a particular theme.

The principal risks of investing in the ARK ETFs include: Equity Securities Risk. The value of the equity securities the ARK ETF holds may fall due to general market and economic conditions. Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. Health Care Sector Risk. The Health Care Sector may be affected by government regulations and government health care programs. Industrials Sector Risk. The industrials sector includes companies engaged in the aerospace and defense industry, electrical engineering, machinery, and professional services. Financial Technology Risk. Companies that are developing financial technologies that seek to disrupt or displace established financial institutions generally face competition from much larger and more established firms. Fintech Innovation Companies may not be able to capitalize on their disruptive technologies if they face political and/or legal attacks from competitors, industry groups or local and national governments. A Fintech Innovation Company may not currently derive any revenue, and there is no assurance that such company will derive any revenue from innovative technologies in the future. Financial Sector Risk . The factors that impact the financial sector will likely have a greater effect on this Fund than on a fund with less exposure to such sector. Information Technology Sector Risk. Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Cryptocurrency Investment Risk. The Funds, specifically ARKK, ARKW, ARKQ may have exposure to cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, indirectly through an investment in a grantor trust (e.g., the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC)) that will experience any associated volatility of the underlying cryptocurrency. The Funds' exposure to cryptocurrencies may change over time and, accordingly, such exposure may not always be present in the Funds' portfolios. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are not ''fiat'' currencies of any central bank or government and currently are not subject to the authority of any central bank or government authority and are therefore not backed by any government, and regulatory and tax treatment of cryptocurrencies continues to develop. Please see the ARK ETFs' current prospectuses for more detailed descriptions of the risks of investing in the ARK ETFs.  

¹Effective as of November 4, 2019, the ARK Web x.0 ETF's name changed to the "ARK Next Generation Internet ETF" and the ARK Industrial Innovation ETF's name changed to the "ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF."
²ARK's actively managed ETFs are benchmark agnostic. Index performance provided as a general market indicator. As of October 31, 2019, the S&P 500 Index has returned 23.16% year-to-date, the MSCI World Index has returned 20.60% year-to-date, and the NASDAQ Biotechnology Total Return Index returned 11.19% year-to-date. As of October 31, 2019, the S&P 500 Index has returned 11.01% annualized since the inception of ARKK and ARKG, while the MSCI World Index has returned 7.81% annualized and the NASDAQ Biotechnology Total Return Index has returned 2.10% annualized. As of October 31, 2019, the S&P 500 Index has returned 11.03% annualized since the inception of ARKW and ARKQ, while the MSCI World Index has returned 7.54% annualized.

CONTACT: Shaina Tavares, 646-808-3731, [email protected]

SOURCE ARK Investment Management LLC

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