ARK Invest unveiled its highly anticipated space exploration and innovation exchange-traded fund (ETF) last week, with the hot new fund quickly amassing more than $536 million assets under management (AUM). Funds usually take about three years to reach $100 million AUM, making ARK's latest actively managed ETF on track to break some records.
The new ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKX) has an investment objective of long-term capital growth through the investment in global companies that are engaged in the theme of space exploration and innovation. ARK divides this theme further into four company categories: orbital aerospace, suborbital aerospace, enabling technologies, and aerospace beneficiaries.
From that category list, the fund holds expected names like defense companies Kratos Defense & Security (NASDAQ: KTOS), L3 Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) among its top ten holdings. However, a lot of ARKX's holdings appear to be recycled from other ARK funds, especially from the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (NYSE: ARKQ). This is further evident by the fund's second largest holding being the ARK 3D Printing ETF (NYSE: PRNT).
One of the main reasons behind the significant sharing of holdings between ARKX and ARKQ is that the space exploration industry will eventually overlap with the robotics industry as more innovations are made to satellites and other orbital spacecrafts. Additionally, the 3D printing ETF is poised to benefit from the space industry as technologies improve.
Another reason is that there just aren't that many pure-play space stocks beyond names like Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) that are publicly trading. Leaders in the industry are privately run by multi-billionaires like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Starlink, both of which may IPO in the future, and Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin.
Beyond its recycled holdings, ARKX offers ARK's actively-managed advantage over passively managed competitor Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ: UFO) for the same expense ratio of 0.75%. ARK has become a big name on Wall Street under the direction of CEO Cathie Wood, whose disruptive investment style behind the firm's ETFs has reaped significant returns and record inflows.
ARKX is the eighth listed ETF offered by ARK Invest.