Ark Investment Management won two awards, as did Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) and Global X, and Invesco's QQQJ Nasdaq Next Generation 100 ETF won three awards in the eighth-annual ETF.com awards.
Ark Invest was declared the ETF issuer of the year — which isn't surprising, since all five of its active ETFs were stellar performers in 2020. The ETFs more than doubled in price in 2020, creating tremendous market buzz about the firm and its very public founder, CEO and chief investment officer, Cathie Wood.
The Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), the firm's largest with currently over $22 billion in assets that gained 150% in 2020, won the top prize for ETF of the year. Like all Ark actively managed ETFs, it invests in a limited number of companies that are involved in disruptive technologies as developers or beneficiaries.
In a virtual interview during the awards presentation, Wood talked about the conviction and discipline of the firm's investment process, which it sticks to "no matter what the market is going through." She added that the ETFs don't necessarily do well in volatile times "but usually turn up before a bear market ends, because we focus on new leadership."
