ETF Stream is thrilled to announce that ARK Invest founder, CEO and CIO Cathie Wood will be joining ETF Ecosystem Unwrapped 2024 as the closing keynote speaker for Day 1 on 22 May.
The renowned stock picker will be interviewed by ETF Stream’s editor Tom Eckett on disrupting the European ETF market after acquiring thematic specialist Rize ETF in September 2023.
Wood (pictured) is known for her role as founder of ARK Invest, a company with $60bn assets under management (AUM) investing in next-generation disruptive sectors from driverless cars to gene editing.
Before starting ARK in 2014, Wood started working at AllianceBernstein in 2001 as CIO for global thematic strategies where she held this position for 12 years, managing $5bn AUM.
ARK Invest’s flagship, the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) – with assets of $23bn – has delivered returns of nearly 45% annually over the past five years.
The acquisition of Rize ETF is ARK Invest’s first major foray into the European ETF market. The move will allow ARK Invest to tap into the growing European demand for thematic ETFs, a nascent market versus the US.
Wood was recognised as the top stock picker of 2020 by Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler and featured in Forbes’ 50 Over 50 in 2021.
Other speakers on Day 2 include Elroy Dimson, professor of finance at Cambridge Judge Business School, who will deliver the opening keynote on his new research into equity-bond premiums.
On Day 2, Hélène Bussiéres, deputy head of the asset management unit at the European Commission will offer an overview of the European Commission's perspective on the future of ETFs.
Also on Day 2, attendees can join a Breakfast Workship which includes Antonio Ocana Alvarez, policy officer at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on the challenges of a move to T+1 settlement.
Taking place on 22-23 May, ETF Ecosystem Unwrapped 2024 is Europe’s largest ETF event and will cover some of the most important issues facing investors and the ecosystem. Join us for a series of keynotes, debates, panels and interviews with top thinkers from across the ETF industry.
