Looking for a template for winning at work? You'd be wise to follow Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of ARK Invest.
XIf you want great things to happen in your career, think big, she says. Focus on the future. Double-down on innovation. And in a world driven by disruption, "make sure you're on the right side of change," Wood said.
The success of ARK Invest, the firm she founded in 2014, proves Wood's method works.
"If you are buying into a vacuum of conventional wisdom ... the potential to capitalize is enormous," Wood told Investor's Business Daily.
Follow Cathie Wood's Winning Template At ARK Invest
Over her 40-year career, Wood, now in her 60s, rose to the top in the male-dominated world of Wall Street. ARK Invest upended the exchange traded fund (ETF) world.
Wood's firm, which launched the first actively managed ETF six years ago, now offers seven ETFs. After crossing $5 billion in assets in June 2018, the firm now manages nearly $19 billion, according to ETF.com.
Its flagship fund, ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), posted a 94% return this year, through Oct. 26, topping 99% of funds in its category, according to Morningstar. ARK Invest looks for big stock success stories in cutting-edge tech areas: DNA sequencing, robotics, artificial intelligence, energy storage and blockchain technology. The whole asset management industry is trying to catch up.
Disrupt Or Get Disrupted
People who want to succeed should think like a disrupter, Wood says. "That's going to become more and more true, because so much is changing," she said.
Wood's disruptive emblem of success? Proving ETFs run by stock-pickers can generate market-beating returns. And that's not easy in an ETF world best known for passive, index-style investing.
In a Forbes column last summer, Steve Forbes wrote: "Wood has a knack for uncovering unconventional opportunities that will enrich our future, not to mention your long-term portfolio."
The money manager isn't afraid to take risks, either. Wood's been a Tesla (TSLA) bull since the electric car maker's early days. She still is.
After CEO Elon Musk's tweet two summers ago about taking the vehicle maker private for $420 a share, Wood wrote to him. Her five-year price target at the time was nearly 10 times Musk's proposed takeout price.
Her message? Musk was vastly undervaluing his company and depriving investors of sharing in its success. Wall Street has come around to Wood's more upbeat view on the electric car maker, helping shares soar.
Hold Your Ideas With Conviction Like Cathie Wood
To be successful, Wood says, you need conviction in your ideas. Be proud of your work, even amid criticism like she got with her sky-high Tesla price target. "People would say, 'Oh, my gosh, you were made fun of, you were ridiculed, they treated your research with derision,'" Wood said. "Those were the most exciting times for me because I always believe truth wins out."
Drowning out naysayers and staying focused is a prerequisite for success, she says.
Brainstorm Your Way To Success Like Ark Invest
Finding emerging technologies and budding inventors who will change the world takes vision. Wood spends her days thinking about events that haven't happened yet.
"I love figuring out how the world is going to work," Wood said. "I think I understand how it works now. But how is it going to change? That is really exciting."
Wood looks forward to every Friday at 10:30 a.m. That's when Wood and her team of analysts — some half her age — assemble for a brainstorming meeting. She's looking to gain an edge. And learn about things from her team that others don't know.
"They are bringing the most interesting, provocative or controversial ideas they've heard all week," Wood said.
Cathie Wood: Channel Your Curiosity
Wood emits boundless curiosity. As a kid, she never lived in one place long. Her dad, an Air Force design engineer, moved from base to base. And the family came along. By 12, she had moved 10 times. Wood spent time in England, Ireland (where both her parents are from), and Alabama, upstate New York, and California.
Adapting to change and embracing new things powers her. "You know how kids ask, 'Why? Why? Why?' I was probably one of those kids," Wood said.
Like many young girls, Wood dreamed of being a ballerina. And curing cancer. "I didn't do either," she said. But what she did do was start a money-management firm that invests in companies with therapies that "will potentially cure cancer."
Ark Invest Tip: Collaborate With Game Changers
You need to spend time with innovators to be on the cutting-edge yourself, Wood says.
Fostering new ideas is a core tenet at ARK Invest. To help spark innovative dialogue, ARK Invest gives its research to anybody who wants it. Wood treats research like "open-source software." Not like top-secret dossiers. She posted her firm's Tesla valuation analysis online.
"In the sharing economy world and the networking world, if you don't give, you don't get," Wood said. You can't succeed on your own, Wood says.
Wood vows by a team-focused management style. "You have to have a very collegial and collaborative group," Wood said. "That's the key from a cultural point of view. You don't see any turf warfare at ARK. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together with each other is going to get us to the truth faster."
Surround yourself with people trying to shape the future, she says. In fact, betting your future on old-line companies is riskier than joining with entrepreneurs and startups.
"What we're doing is sizing up the opportunities innovators are going after," Wood said. "Trying to figure how big they are. They're reaching for the stars. But they don't know how big the market is going to be. That's what we do."
Make Your Own Breaks Like Cathie Wood Did
In the first three years after opening ARK Invest, business was tough. Wood funded payroll with money from her checking account.
"I always believed that everything was going to work out," Wood said. "We didn't stop. We didn't just sit there waiting for something to happen."
Eventually, two financial firms partnered with Wood to help distribute ARK's ETFs. "My faith was a big part of it," Wood said. "Not blind faith. You make your breaks."
Build Your Career Off Blank Sheets Of Paper
Wood cherishes technology, but for her, it's tough to beat a blank sheet of paper for innovation. That's where Wood starts her problem-solving process. "The white sheet of paper starts us asking questions," Wood said. "And we see how far we can push it."
Back in 2014, that blank-slate thinking highlighted the belief autonomous cars were the future, she says. Hence, her fascination with Tesla.
Love Your Career With Help From A Mentor
Making it on Wall Street as a woman 40 years ago wasn't easy. Like many college students, Wood — who paid her own tuition working at supermarkets and restaurants — wasn't sure what she wanted to do. "I thought I'd go into geology, astronomy, engineering," she said.
Her dad intervened, nudging her toward economics.
After taking her first economics course in her sophomore year, she found her passion. "I love learning how the world works, but more importantly, how it is going to work," Wood said. "You can think big when you're thinking about macroeconomics."
Transform With 'Wow Moments'
While at the University of Southern California, Wood found a mentor in economics professor Art Laffer. She was an undergraduate, but took graduate-level classes he taught anyway. Laffer further switched her on to economics. In 1977, when she was a junior, he got her an internship at Capital Group, an investment firm known for research and long-term view. A light went off when Wood tackled her first assignment.
"I had this wow moment," Wood said. "The first project I am put on involves Hong Kong 1997. So, 20 years away. The focus on such a long-term time horizon was one of the things that really got me. I said, 'OK, this is what I want to do.'"
Cathie Wood's Keys At Ark Invest
- Founder and CEO of ARK Invest, one of the fastest-growing and successful asset managers and ETF providers.
- Overcame: Hurdles for women in the investment industry. Wood recalls attending meetings in her 20s and being viewed as the note taker. So got everyone's attention asking insightful questions.
- Lesson: Make your boss look great. "When I got into the business, I didn't care how menial the job was. I was going to make my boss look brilliant. That's a big secret to success."
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October 29, 2020 at 08:00PM
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Cathie Wood Of Ark Invest Reveals Her Successful Playbook - Investor's Business Daily
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