# Cathie Wood's philosophy, applied to ETFs > Cathie Wood on the IQ Investment Committee: 1 observation, dated and with no verdict, sourced to ARK Invest's published research. Data as of Dec 31, 2024. Rebuilt every trading night. Version 3.0, published Oct 21, 2026: 1 observation, 3 sources. ## Cathie Wood's philosophy, applied to ETFs In the tradition of Cathie Wood, this seat prints 1 observation from ETFIQ data, each dated, and gives no verdict, version 3.0 of Oct 21, 2026. Is the theme one ARK names? 1 Observation 3 Sources 3.0 Version Seat: Wood-style Disruptive Innovation. No investor named is affiliated with or endorses ETFIQ. Not investment advice. Cathie Wood is living. This profile uses only what she and ARK Investment Management have published, chiefly in SEC filings, and what newspapers have reported; nothing in it suggests that she or ARK has any connection with ETFIQ. ETFIQ has no connection with ARK, and the seat reads ARK's funds by the same rules as every other fund's. ### Bio Catherine D. Wood was born in 1955. She received her B.S., summa cum laude, in finance and economics from the University of Southern California in 1981. According to the ARK ETF Trust's prospectus, she worked for 18 years at Jennison Associates as chief economist, equity research analyst, portfolio manager and director. She then joined Tupelo Capital Management, and in 2001 moved from Tupelo to Alliance Capital. At AllianceBernstein she was chief investment officer of global thematic strategies, with $5 billion in assets under management. After 12 years at AllianceBernstein she founded ARK Investment Management LLC and registered it with the SEC in January 2014. She is ARK's founder, managing member and chief executive, and serves as its chief investment officer and as portfolio manager of its actively managed ETFs, including the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW). ARK is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. ARKK's prospectus gives its record as of Dec 31, 2024, the latest date in ARK's current prospectus. For the ten years to that date, the fund returned 11.99% a year before taxes, against 13.10% for the S&P 500. Over five years it returned 3.05% a year against 14.53%, and in 2024 it returned 8.36% against 25.02%. Its best quarter was the one ending June 30, 2020, at 61.42%, and its worst the one ending June 30, 2022, at a loss of 39.69%. Its management fee is 0.75% a year. In October 2022 she published an open letter to the Federal Reserve arguing that rapid rate increases risked causing deflation. ### Philosophy The approach Wood leads at ARK starts from one idea, disruptive innovation, which ARK defines in its fund prospectus (quoted below). ARK states that it believes the companies relevant to the theme are those that rely on or benefit from new products and services, technological improvements and advances in scientific research. ARKK commits at least 65% of its assets to companies relevant to that theme. ARK names the areas it means: genomics; automation and manufacturing; transportation; energy; artificial intelligence; materials; shared technology, infrastructure and services, which it calls the next generation internet; and technologies that make financial services more efficient, including blockchain. It selects companies through its own research, looking for those capitalizing on such innovation or enabling it, and says that research draws on diverse sources, including outside research, to refine its themes and spot trends that affect single companies or whole industries. Three features follow from that and set the seat apart from the others on the committee. First, it is thematic rather than sector-based. A genomics company may sit in health care, technology or materials; what matters is its exposure to the theme, not its industry label. Second, it is concentrated. ARKK is classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act, which means it may put a high share of its assets in a limited number of issuers. Concentration lets conviction drive returns, in both directions. The fund's best and worst quarters, two years apart, show the range. Third, it is long-horizon and growth-first. ARK's stated objective for ARKK is long-term growth of capital. Her October 2022 letter to the Fed, as Fortune reported it, argued that falling prices for commodities, used cars and homes showed inflation already easing, and that the Fed was relying on backward-looking data such as employment and headline inflation. What the record shows is that the approach has had long stretches on both sides of the market. As of Dec 31, 2024, ARKK's ten-year return trailed the S&P 500 by about one percentage point a year and its five-year return by more than 11 points a year; its single best quarter, in 2020, was a gain of 61.42%. ETFIQ's seat notes whether a fund's theme is one of the ideas ARK names or runs a fund on. ARK publishes no test that can be applied to another firm's fund, so the seat observes and does not vote, and it leaves the forecast to the reader. ### Key works - ARK ETF Trust, prospectus and summary prospectuses (for example, post-effective amendment no. 43 to Form N-1A, filed Nov 26, 2025), which set out ARK's definition of disruptive innovation. - Cathie Wood, open letter to the Federal Reserve, published by ARK Invest, Oct 10, 2022, as reported by Fortune. ### What we cannot know This profile rests on SEC filings and press reports, and the internal models ARK uses to value companies are not public. ### Source quality Thin. The facts and record come from ARK's own SEC prospectus, which is strong, but Wood's own published words appear here only as a newspaper reported them. ### Sources ARK ETF Trust, Form N-1A, post-effective amendment no. 43 (Securities Act file no. 333-191019), filed Nov 26, 2025, effective Nov 30, 2025, prospectus: ARK Innovation ETF summary, "Principal Investment Strategies," including the 65% commitment, the definition of disruptive innovation and the themes; "Portfolio Managers": Catherine D. Wood as chief investment officer and portfolio manager of the actively managed funds, 12 years at AllianceBernstein, ARK founded and registered with the SEC in January 2014, chief investment officer of global thematic strategies at AllianceBernstein with $5 billion, joined Alliance Capital in 2001 from Tupelo Capital Management, 18 years at Jennison Associates, B.S. from USC in 1981. SEC EDGAR. SEC EDGAR Same filing, ARK Innovation ETF summary: investment objective of long-term growth of capital; management fee 0.75%, total annual fund operating expenses 0.75%; classified as non-diversified under the 1940 Act; average annual total returns as of Dec 31, 2024, before taxes, 8.36% (1 year), 3.05% (5 years), 11.99% (10 years), against 25.02%, 14.53% and 13.10% for the S&P 500; highest quarterly return 61.42% (quarter ended 6/30/2020), lowest a loss of 39.69% (6/30/2022). Same URL. Will Daniel, "Cathie Wood ... open letter to the Federal Reserve," Fortune , Oct 10, 2022, 2:21 PM ET: the quoted phrase from the letter; her argument that the Fed was relying on lagging indicators such as employment and headline inflation, and that commodity, used car and home prices showed inflation falling. fortune.com Same filing, statement of additional information, trustees and officers table: Catherine D. Wood, born 1955, trustee, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of the trust; principal occupation given as managing member, founder and chief executive officer of ARK Investment Management LLC since 2013. Same URL. ### In ARK ETF Trust’s words “The Adviser defines 'disruptive innovation' as the introduction of a technologically enabled new product or service that potentially changes the way the world works.” ARK ETF Trust, prospectus, ARK Innovation ETF summary, "Principal Investment Strategies," filed with the SEC Nov 26, 2025 ### The Wood-style Disruptive Innovation seat Wood-style Disruptive Innovation is one seat of the IQ Investment Committee. It applies ARK Invest's published research to ETFIQ data. ### Scope Theme funds, and coin funds, since ARK names Bitcoin among its ideas and runs a spot bitcoin fund. Any other fund reads Not enough data, outside this seat's scope. This seat observes and does not vote. ARK publishes what it means by disruptive innovation and which ideas it follows, and no test that can be applied to another firm's fund. So the seat notes whether a fund's theme is one ARK names or runs a fund on, and gives no state. An earlier version read how much of a fund ARK's own funds owned; that measures ARK's trading, not the fund, and it is gone. Source strength: Thinner: the firm’s published research, so the seat uses fewer criteria. ARK Invest's own published research and its funds' own statements of strategy, not Wood's personal writing. They define the theme and give no test, so the seat observes and does not vote. Lenses apply publicly known investing principles to ETFIQ data. No investor named is affiliated with or endorses ETFIQ. Not investment advice. ### What the investor published In ETFIQ’s words, with the source of each. Sourced to ARK Invest's published research. - Disruptive innovation is a technology-enabled product or service that could change the way the world works. (ARK ETF Trust, Registration statement (Form 485BPOS), ARK Innovation ETF summary section (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), prospectus dated Nov 30, 2025, filed Nov 26, 2025, 2025)) - ARK's flagship fund commits at least 65% of its assets to companies relevant to that theme. (ARK ETF Trust, Registration statement (Form 485BPOS), ARK Innovation ETF summary section (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), prospectus dated Nov 30, 2025, filed Nov 26, 2025, 2025)) - ARK names 13 innovation ideas for 2026, from AI infrastructure and robotics to multiomics, reusable rockets and tokenized assets. (ARK Invest, Big Ideas 2026 (ARK Investment Management, 10th annual edition, 2026), p. 3) ### Sources | Source | What the seat takes from it | Edition | Link | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ARK Invest, Big Ideas 2026 | The 13 innovation ideas ARK names for 2026: The Great Acceleration, AI Infrastructure, The AI Consumer Operating System, AI Productivity, Bitcoin, Tokenized Assets, DeFi Applications, Multiomics, Reusable Rockets, Robotics, Distributed Energy, Autonomous Vehicles and Autonomous Logistics | ARK Investment Management, 10th annual edition, 2026 | source | | ARK ETF Trust, Registration statement (Form 485BPOS), ARK Innovation ETF summary section | ARK's definition of disruptive innovation and ARKK's commitment of at least 65% of its assets to it; the themes of the trust's other funds: Next Generation Internet (ARKW), Blockchain & Fintech innovation (ARKF, "the way the financial sector works"), Space & Defense (ARKX), and the thematic index ETFs PRNT and IZRL | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), prospectus dated Nov 30, 2025, filed Nov 26, 2025, 2025 | source | | ARK Investment Management, ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK): fund objective and description | ARK's definition of disruptive innovation, a technologically enabled new product or service that potentially changes the way the world works, and ARKK's commitment of at least 65% of its assets to companies relevant to that theme | ark-funds.com, matching the fund's summary prospectus of Nov 30, 2025, fund page read 2026-10-21, 2026 | source | ### Research behind the measures Peer-reviewed research on how each measure is taken. It never adds a criterion, and where it weakens one the criterion says so. - Bela Nagy, J. Doyne Farmer, Quan M. Bui and Jessika E. Trancik (2013), Statistical Basis for Predicting Technological Progress , PLoS ONE 8(2), e52669 ( doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052669 ). Hindcasting costs for 62 technologies, Wright's law (cost falling with cumulative production) forecasts most accurately, with Moore's law close behind; the two are nearly indistinguishable because production tends to grow exponentially. ### Definitions and method The seat reads no criteria and gives no state. Each observation below is printed with its date and its source, the same for every fund on a day. ### What the seat observes - The ARK idea or ARK fund theme the fund's theme maps to (the innovation platform: For a theme or coin fund, the idea in ARK's Big Ideas 2026 (p. 3), or the theme of a fund ARK itself runs as its registration statement defines it, that the fund's ETFIQ theme maps to; "none" where it maps to none. The map is ETFIQ's and is printed in full on the seat's page.) An observation, never a verdict: ARK publishes a definition of disruptive innovation, its flagship's 65% commitment and a list of ideas, but no test that can be applied to another firm's fund. A theme on the map is one ARK has written about; a theme off it is one ETFIQ has not matched, not one ARK rejects. Research, context, not a test of the measure: Bela Nagy, J. Doyne Farmer, Quan M. Bui and Jessika E. Trancik (2013), Statistical Basis for Predicting Technological Progress , PLoS ONE 8(2), e52669. Wright's law, which ARK's research leans on, forecasts falling technology costs well across 62 technologies; it bears on ARK's premise, not on any fund. ### Compare and model modes In model mode: The seat builds nothing: it gives no state to order funds by. ### How the seat is tested The cases this seat must pass before it ships, with the result each must give. - A broad innovation fund on a theme ARK names : no state, as the seat observes. The seat notes the match and gives no state: ARK publishes no test. - A gold miners fund : no state, as the seat observes. No match is noted, and no state is given. - ARKW : no state, as the seat observes. ARK's own internet fund: noted as ARK's Next Generation Internet theme, with no state. ### What this cannot tell you - Whether a fund is disruptive innovation in ARK's sense: ARK gives a definition and no test, so the seat gives no state. - How much of each company's business is the innovation itself, and whether ARK is right: its growth forecasts are opinions, not data. - A theme ARK has not written about: the map reads it as not matched, which is not ARK rejecting it. - Whether to own the fund. The seat applies published principles to data and gives no advice. ### Changes to this seat - Version 1.0, Oct 21, 2026: First version. - Version 2.0, Oct 21, 2026: ARK's own fund themes join the map and the crypto desk joins the scope; a theme off the map never vetoes. - Version 3.0, Oct 21, 2026: The seat observes and does not vote. ARK publishes no test that can be applied to another firm's fund, and the share owned by ARK's funds measured ARK's trading rather than the fund, so it is removed. ### How to check any of this This seat’s criteria, thresholds, weights and cases are in the committee file , the same file the committee reads. ### Where to next --- Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices. Cite: ETFIQ, Cathie Wood's philosophy, applied to ETFs, data as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/investment-committee/cathie-wood/ Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms. HTML: https://etfiq.com/investment-committee/cathie-wood/