Biggest Cathie Wood fund heads for third best month

The main fund of the Ark of Cathie Wood heading into one of its best months on record, joining Wall Street assets that have so far defied gloomy expectations for the economy this year.

THE ARK Innovation ETFthe biggest exchange-traded fund from the investor known for its bets on technological innovation, has returned nearly 22% since the beginning of January, the third best monthly performance in the fund’s history.

With a week of trading to go, the fund could still outperform the 26% and 24% monthly returns it delivered in 2020, the year it burst onto the global investment scene and Wood won over crowds investing online during the pandemic.

The ETF benefits from the good mood in the global markets at the beginning of the year, with bets that the inflation The high has passed and central banks may ease monetary tightening.

Last year, aggressive increases in fees hit hard at funds like ARK Innovation and the type of tech stocks the fund invests in.

Exact Sciences Corp., the fund’s largest holding, jumped about 37%.

THE Tesla (TSLA), the portfolio’s third largest share, rose by around 17%.

Despite his poor performance over the past two years, Wood’s vision of targeting tomorrow’s innovators continues to attract fans.

Its flagship fund attracted $1.5 billion in net inflows last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

All eight of its US exchange-listed ETFs have seen gains so far in 2023.