Skeptics of superstar fund manager Cathie Wood are increasing and becoming more vocal.
High-profile hedge fund investors such as Michael Burry, made famous by “The Big Short” movie, have disclosed short positions against Wood’s flagship exchange-traded fund, while some appear to be trying to spar with her on social media and an anti-Ark ETF is also in works.
Semper Augustus Investments Group LLC’s Chief Investment Officer Chris Bloomstran took to Twitter overnight to make some observations on what he makes of Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF and the shorts against it. He offered as many as 37 tweets of unsolicited advice on the nuances of valuations and return ratios in some of his posts.
The upside is that six of the ETF’s top 10 holdings are making money, while “the bad news is the P/Es are somewhat higher than I’m accustomed to seeing,” Bloomstran wrote in a Twitter thread. “What I concluded is you and your team must be counting on growth. Lots of it.”
Several hedge funds including Laurion Capital Management LP, GoldenTree Asset Management LLC and Cormorant Asset Management LLC hold short positions in ARKK, according to their most recent 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Short interest on the ARKK ETF has risen since the end of June to 4.6% of outstanding shares, close to a record high of 5.3% set in March, according to IHS Markit data.
Wood’s main fund and her firm Ark Investment Management LLC attracted billions of dollars in the past year after her thematic tech-focused bets trounced the market in 2020. But Wood and Ark have struggled to maintain momentum amid concerns about lofty prices and accelerating inflation.