NEW YORK

,

Jan. 24, 2019

/PRNewswire/ -- ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK), a

New York

-based adviser focused solely on disruptive innovation, celebrated its five-year anniversary as a registered investment adviser on

January 21, 2019

. As of

January 18, 2019

, ARK's assets under management (AUM) had grown to

$6.6 billion

, a testament that ARK's active approach to investing and focus on disruptive innovation not only is unique to the industry, but also is driving its success. ARK offers a range of investment vehicles including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), institutional and retail separately managed accounts, US and international mutual funds, and a UCITs product. "I founded ARK five years ago to focus on disruptive innovation, primarily in the public equity markets, with the belief that innovation is key to long-term growth but is severely undervalued in the public markets," stated

Catherine Wood

, ARK's CEO and CIO. "Our incisive investment process, open research ecosystem and truly active management of high-conviction portfolios allows us to capitalize on rapid change and avoid industries and companies likely to be displaced by advances in technology." ARK believes all investors, both retail and institutional, should have access to investment opportunities in disruptive innovation. The firm is a global investment manager, advising or sub-advising funds and separate accounts across four continents, including

North America

,

Asia

,

Australia

, and

Europe

. With a three year track record managing institutional assets, including state public pension plans, ARK is committed to expanding its institutional mandate and building on the success of its existing relationships. ARK began operations in 2014 by launching a suite of actively managed equity ETFs centered on disruptive innovation. Today, ARK's ETFs, which now include two index funds, have grown to more than

$2.3 billion

as of

January 18, 2019

. As reported in

September 2018

,¹ three of ARK's funds were among the best unleveraged ETFs based on three-year returns. Since inception, all of ARK's ETFs have outperformed the broad-based equity markets.

The firm's investment strategies include the following:

• Disruptive Innovation is built on the cornerstone investments across all of the firm's innovation themes, including robotics, artificial intelligence, energy storage, genome sequencing and blockchain technology. The AUM in the ETF focusing on this strategy, ARKK, increased 190% in 2018. As of January 18, 2019, it had more than $1.3 billion AUM. ARKK was awarded "ETF of the Year" (2017) by ETF.com and "Active ETF of the Year" (2017) by Fund Intelligence. The AUM of the overall strategy, which includes the American Beacon ARK Disruptive Innovation Mutual Fund (Institutional: ADNIX; Investor: ADNPX) is approximately $2 billion.
• Industrial Innovation captures the rapidly converging industrial and technology sectors, providing exposure to autonomous vehicles, energy storage, robotics, 3D printing, and space exploration. The AUM of the ETF focusing on this strategy, ARKQ, was more than $163 million as of January 18, 2019.
• Next Generation Internet identifies innovations including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain technology. The ETF focusing on this strategy, ARKW, was the first public fund to invest in bitcoin through the purchase of publicly traded shares of Grayscale's Bitcoin Investment Trust. ARKW was awarded the "ETF Innovative Product of the Year" (2015) by Fund Action. As of January 18, 2019, its AUM was more than $445 million.
• Genomic Revolution captures the convergence of technology and health care, providing exposure to leading edge biotechnologies including CRISPR gene-editing, immunotherapies, molecular diagnostics, and agricultural biology. The ETF focusing on this strategy, ARKG, experienced a 383% increase in AUM in 2018. As of January 18, 2019, it had an AUM of more than $306 million. Recently launched in Japan, the sub-advised mutual fund employing this strategy has an AUM of more than $51 million.
• Fintech Innovation, a strategy with $2.9 billion in AUM, focuses on innovations that are revolutionizing the financial industry. In Japan, ARK sub-advises a fintech mutual fund which received the Morningstar Fund of the Year 2017 Global Equity Award. ARK expects to launch its fintech strategy in the United States during the first quarter of 2019.
• Mobility-As-A-Service, a strategy with more than $552 million in AUM, recognizes that innovations within automation, robotics, and energy storage should upend the traditional automotive industry and transform the transportation backbone of both the developed and developing world.
• Space Exploration, a strategy approaching $4 million in AUM, provides exposure to advanced space and satellite technologies that are transforming logistics, cybersecurity, agriculture, telecommunication, drones, and rocket technology.
• Israel Innovative Technology has an overall strategy AUM of more than $52 million and provides exposure to Israeli companies across industries such as health care, life sciences, and manufacturing. It includes the index ETF IZRL and the Nikko EurAsia "New Silk Road" Fund.
• 3D Printing captures the high growth potential of 3D printing companies that are set to transform the manufacturing landscape. With an AUM of more than $38 million, PRNT is the first and only ETF to focus solely on the 3D printing ecosystem.

In 2018, editors at Bloomberg acknowledged

Catherine Wood

and ARK by selecting Cathie to be included in its second annual Bloomberg 50 list of people across business, entertainment, finance, politics, technology, and science who have defined global business.² Additionally, Fortune named Cathie to its exclusive roundtable of experts in the annual Fortune Investors Guide: The Best Investing Advice for 2019 From Fortune's Experts.³