ARK Investment Management Named "Most Innovative ETF Issuer of the Year" and ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) named "ETF of the Year"

NEW YORK, March 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK), a New York-based adviser focused solely on disruptive innovation, received two awards at the fifth annual ETF.com Awards Dinner on March 22, 2018. The firm was recognized as the "Most Innovative ETF Issuer of the Year," and the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) was named "ETF of the Year." According to ETF.com, the "Most Innovative ETF Issuer of the Year" is awarded to the ETF provider that launched the most innovative and groundbreaking ETFs in 2017, while "ETF of the Year" is awarded to the ETF that did the most to improve investor opportunities and outcomes in 2017 while providing investors with access to interesting areas of the market.

ARK's actively managed ETFs, which have outperformed the broad-based markets since inception, aim to deliver long-term capital appreciation and outperformance with a low correlation of relative returns to traditional investment strategies by investing exclusively in disruptive innovation.¹ The firm's active management of high-conviction portfolios seeks to capitalize on rapid change and has led to the firm's outperformance.

"We're honored that ARK was recognized as 'Most Innovative ETF Issuer of the Year," said Catherine Wood, ARK's Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. "We believe that these awards highlight the success of our iterative investment process, combining top-down and bottom-up research and enabling us to identify disruptive innovation early."

The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) returned 87.4% in 2017.² ARKK is built on the cornerstone investments that ARK believes present the best risk-reward opportunities across the firm's innovation themes, including industrial innovation, next generation internet, and the genomic revolution. ARKK provides exposure to companies that ARK believes are driving disruptive innovation across sectors.

"We believe that ARKK is a prime example of how investing in disruptive innovation can provide outsized returns for investors, and that its unique blend of holdings across industrials, internet innovations and genomics is unparalleled in today's market," said Tom Staudt, ARK's Chief Operating Officer.

ARK was also nominated by ETF.com for "Thematic ETF of the Year" and "ETF Issuer of the Year."

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 $4.15 billion assets under management as of February 28, 2018. 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, 3D printing, big data, machine learning, blockchain technology, cloud computing, energy storage, and DNA sequencing. ARK's investment strategies include: Industrial Innovation, Next Generation Internet, Genomic Revolution, Fintech Innovations, 3D Printing, Israel Innovative Technology, and the overall ARK Disruptive Innovation Strategy.

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.

ARK can be followed on Twitter at @ARKInvest. Catherine D. Wood can be followed on Twitter at @CathieDWood. ARK's Director of Research, Brett Winton, can be followed on Twitter at @wintonARK. ARKs analysts can be followed on Twitter at @TashaARK, @skorusARK, @jwangARK, @juliahARK, @bhavanaARK, and @msamyARK.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of an exchange-traded fund ("ETF") before investing. This and other information are contained in each ETF's prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting www.ark-funds.com. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. An investment in an ETF is subject to risks and you can lose money on your investment in an ETF. There can be no assurance that the ETFs will achieve their investment objectives. The ETFs' portfolios are more volatile than broad market averages. The ARK ETFs also have specific risks, which are described below. More detailed information regarding these risks can be found in the ARK ETFs' prospectuses. 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. Concentration Risk: The Fund's assets may be concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent the Index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries. 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. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government regulation, world events, economic conditions, environmental damages, product liability claims and exchange rates.. Information Technology Sector Risk. Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Israel Risk. Israeli companies may be adversely affected by changes in political climate, government regulation, world events, economic conditions, and exchange rates. The unique characteristics of securities of Israeli companies and the Israel stock market may have a negative impact on IZRL. Index Tracking Risk. The returns of IZRL and PRNT may not match the returns of the Index.

Cryptocurrency Risk. Cryptocurrency (notably, bitcoin), often referred to as ''virtual currency'' or ''digital currency,'' operates as a decentralized, peer-to-peer financial exchange and value storage that is used like money. The Fund may have exposure to bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, indirectly through an investment in the Bitcoin Investment Trust (''GBTC''), a privately offered, open-end investment vehicle. Cryptocurrency operates without central authority or banks and is not back by any government. Even indirectly, cryptocurrencies (i.e., bitcoin) may experience very high volatility and related investment vehicles like GBTC may be affected by such volatility. As a result of holding cryptocurrency, the Fund may also trade at a significant premium to NAV. Cryptocurrency is also not legal tender. Federal, state or foreign governments may restrict the use and exchange of cryptocurrency, and regulation in the U.S. is still developing. Cryptocurrency exchanges may stop operating or permanently shut down due to fraud, technical glitches, hackers or malware. Cryptocurrency Tax Risk. Many significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of investments in bitcoin are uncertain and an investment in bitcoin may produce income that is not treated as qualifying income for purposes of the income test applicable to regulated investment companies, such as the Fund. GBTC is expected to be treated as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and therefore an investment by the Fund in GBTC will generally be treated as a direct investment in bitcoin for such purposes. See ''Taxes'' in the Fund's SAI for more information. Detailed information regarding the specific risks of the ARK ETFs can be found in the ARK ETFs' prospectuses.

Additional risks of investing in ARK ETFs include equity, market, management and non-diversification risks, as well as fluctuations in market value and net asset value ("NAV"). The market price of ETF shares may differ significantly from their NAV during periods of market volatility. ETF shares may only be redeemed directly with the ETF at NAV by Authorized Participants, in very large creation units. Holdings are subject to change without notice and are not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for ETF shares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue or remain unchanged. Buying or selling ETF shares on an exchange may require the payment of brokerage commissions and frequent trading may incur brokerage costs that detract significantly from investment returns.

ARK Investment Management, LLC is the investment adviser to the ARK ETFs Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.

Other Finalists "Best ETF of the Year": iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), SPDR Portfolio Total Stock Market ETF (SPTM), U.S. Tax Reform Fund (TAXR), WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund (XSOE), Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND).

Other Finalists "Most Innovative ETF Issuer of the Year": Alpha Architect, EventShares, Exchange Traded Concepts, iShares by BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors.

Methodology: ETF.com Award winners are selected in a three-part process designed to leverage the insights and opinions of leaders throughout the ETF industry. Step 1: The awards process began with an open nomination period running from Dec. 4, 2017, through Jan. 2, 2018. We received hundreds of nominations from participants in all corners of the ETF space. Step 2: Following the open nominations process, the ETF.com Awards Nominating Committee—made up of senior leaders at ETF.com, Inside ETFs and FactSet—voted to select up to five finalists in each category. Votes were tallied on a majority basis. The members of the 2017 Nominating Committee were:

• Matt Hougan, CEO, Inside ETFs (Chair)
• Paul Britt, Senior Analyst, FactSet
• Elisabeth Kashner, Director of ETF Research, FactSet
• Dave Nadig, Managing Director, ETF.com
• Drew Voros, Editor-in-Chief, ETF.com

Step 3: Winners from these finalists were selected by a majority vote of the ETF.com Awards Selection Committee, a group of independent ETF experts. Committee members recused themselves from voting in any category in which they or their firms appeared as finalists. Ties were decided where possible with head-to-head runoff votes. The members of the 2017 Awards Selection Committee were:

• Kim Arthur, Main Management
• Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence
• Ben Blaisdell, US Trust
• Rob Glownia, RiverFront
• Tom Lydon, ETFtrends
• Phil Mackintosh, Virtu
• Tyler Mordy, Forstrong Global Asset Management
• Jason Nicastro, LPL Financial
• Todd Rosenbluth, CFRA
• Jim Wiandt, Industry Expert

Voting was completed by Jan. 20, 2018, but results were kept secret until their announcement at the ETF.com U.S. Awards Dinner on March 22, 2018

¹ ARK defines Disruptive Innovation as the introduction of a technologically enabled new product or service that permanently changes an industry by creating simplicity and accessibility while driving down costs.

² As of December 31, 2017, the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) One Year Performance was 87.41% NAV and 87.37% Market Price and the since inception, October 31, 2014, annualized performance of ARKK was 22.82% NAV and 22.88% Market Price. The expense ratio of ARKK is 0.75%. 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 the most recent month-end performance visit www.ark-funds.com

CONTACT: Shaina Lamb, 646-808-3731,[email protected]; Stephanie Dressler,949-269-2535, [email protected]

SOURCE ARK Investment Management

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