2024-04-26 17:51:42
US investor Cathie Wood is betting on technologies that are transforming our lives. Your stock funds are now available in Germany, but are controversial. In the interview, Wood defends her investment strategy.
Cathie Wood appears energetic and focused when she enters the conference room in Frankfurt’s “Steigenberger Hotel” on Thursday afternoon. The US investment strategist with Irish roots is considered a pioneer when it comes to investing in future technologies. She is on a roadshow in Europe, introducing investors to the three equity funds (ETFs) of her company ARK Invest, which have also been available to buy on the stock exchange in this country since Thursday.
The ETFs all rely on “disruptive innovation”, i.e. technologies that are intended to sustainably change our daily lives. For Wood, these include robotics and automation, artificial intelligence and energy storage, but also blockchain and DNA analysis. However, Wood’s funds have recently come under criticism due to high price fluctuations in recent years.
To person
Cathie Wood is CEO and investment strategist of the US investment company ARK Investment Management, founded in 2014 and based in Florida. The company focuses on “disruptive innovation” and also conducts research. Wood previously worked at the asset management firm AllianceBernstein and a hedge fund, among others. Wood holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the University of Southern California.
For an hour and a half, Woods spoke to journalists, including t-online, about real innovation, her preference for Tesla and why fluctuations in the stock market do not scare her away.
t-online: Ms. Wood, your funds for disruptive technologies have been around in the USA since 2015. Why are you coming to Europe with this now?
Cathie Wood: We have had an interest in Europe for a long time. We make research results on innovative technologies available free of charge – a quarter of subscribers come from Europe. It was clear that we would only gain a foothold if we cooperated with a fund provider based here. It took a while until we found Rize from Great Britain and were able to develop ETFs that comply with local regulations. It is fitting that active ETFs are currently on the rise. Investors in this country particularly appreciate that it is transparent which stocks are in the ETF. This is not the case with traditional actively managed funds.
Are the Europeans just as open to revolutionary technologies as the Americans and willing to invest?
Conversations with potential customers in Europe show us: Yes. There is great interest in new technologies – investors see a market and have so far had little opportunity to invest in future trends. In family offices – i.e. asset managers of large families – it is often the younger generation who rely on new technologies and invite us to introduce our funds to the family. We spoke to investors who are perhaps 40 years old and know our investment strategy perfectly. We didn’t expect that and that shows how deep the interest is. In this country, things are analyzed very carefully.
Their funds have been criticized because they fluctuate greatly in value. Among other things, Tesla brought you big losses. Why do you stay invested?
Tesla will transform our lives in the next ten years. It is currently transitioning to a new era of automated manufacturing, so-called unboxed packaging…
… important components of the car are assembled at the same time before final assembly.
Electric cars driven by people will become significantly cheaper. Tesla also wants to build 25,000 self-driving cars. The new manufacturing will exponentially increase global sales of electric cars, from about 10 percent today to 75 percent market share in the next five to ten years.
Such an increase in sales in just a few years. How exactly is that supposed to be possible?
Firstly, because production will become cheaper and many more people will be able to afford electric cars. And: Individuals and companies will buy a whole series of Teslas to build a robotaxi fleet. The new fleets will scale quickly in size and Tesla will share in the sales. Thanks to Uber and Lyft, currently the two major ride-hailing companies in the US, people already know what it’s like to get into a car with someone they don’t know. But I think people would rather move around without a driver than ride with someone they don’t know.