Champion growth investor Cathie Wood has had a tough year. But consistency of approach could be her secret weapon, says our columnist.
The overarching narrative of the stock market is in the midst of a deep realignment, with one of Coinbase’s largest shareholders at the center of attention. As tech hype cools and interest rates seem poised for a big shift, more speculative “growth” investments, primarily equity in quickly expanding or innovative companies, are having a rough few months. In their place, there’s more interest in so-called “value” investments, such as equity in companies that are already generating profits.
That has led to deep losses and varying degrees of embarrassment for investors who’ve made highly forward-looking bets. The tech-focused NASDAQ index has seen big volatility and is currently flat against its mid-January level. High-profile professional growth investors like Chamath Palihapitiya, just months ago a relentless and celebrated champion of a kind of less-transparent IPO known as a SPAC, have taken both financial and reputational hits.
David Z. Morris is CoinDesk’s Chief Insights Columnist.A lot of attention has been focused on Ark Invest, which manages exchange-traded funds investing in things like fintech, genomics, and space exploration. Ark CEO Cathie Wood had become something of an investing rock star in recent years, thanks to a rich 45% annualized return over the past five years in its flagship Innovation Fund, which has grown to more than $50 billion in managed assets.
