Cathie Wood’s Ark shutters transparency ETF in first closure

The ARK Transparency ETF gained only $12 million in assets since inception, a fraction of the $9 billion in Wood’s flagship fund.

Cathie Wood is closing down one of her exchange-traded funds, the first time her Ark Investment Management has pulled the plug on an ETF.

The St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm is shutting down its ARK Transparency ETF (CTRU), which launched at the end of last year, according to a regulatory filing. With holdings like Teladoc Health Inc. and Spotify Technology SA, the fund aimed to invest in companies that received high scores on transparency.

Ark said in a statement that Transparency Global, which shaped the fund’s underlying portfolio, will stop calculating the index at the end of July.

“While Ark investigated alternative index providers, it did not find a suitable solution and decided to close the fund,” according to the release.

The fund gained only $12 million in assets since inception, a fraction of the $9 billion in Wood’s flagship fund. It was a rare passive vehicle from Ark, whose active offerings boomed in popularity during the pandemic, with Wood hand-picking stocks that she saw as shaping the future of finance, healthcare and other industries.

“This seemed like an odd fit to me from the beginning,” said Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, an investment adviser. “Ark made their name by focusing on active management and disruptive innovation. The ARK Transparency ETF was at odds with that approach.”

The transparency fund’s price has dropped more than 30% since its debut in late December. It will no longer accept creation orders after Thursday and won’t accept redemption orders after July 26, the filing showed.

It’s been a difficult year for investors in growth strategies. Wood’s ARK has plunged more than 50% as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates and fears of a recession grow. Since December, Ark has lost almost half of its assets under management.