Cathie Wood of Ark Invest said digital wallets and genomics are the next two big disruptive trends after Tesla and electric vehicles.
“We are very excited about digital wallets,” Wood told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” on Tuesday. “We truly believe that these digital wallets and two-sided markets, traders and consumers … will usurp a lot of the role that banks play today.”
Wood – CIO and CEO of Ark Investment Management – has made a name for himself by investing in “disruptive innovation”. Wood’s flagship fund, ARK Innovation, has grossed more than $ 16.7 billion in the past year, according to FactSet.
Wood has big bets on names like Square and PayPal, which dominate the digital wallet space. Square is the second largest holding company in Ark Innovation, accounting for over 7% of the ETF.
In China, Wood said WeChat Pay and AliPay are the main players.
“It’s digital, it’s mobile. It’s a small bank branch in your pocket,” Wood said. “We will have all kinds of financial services through them, including loans, debit cards, credit cards, stock purchases, bitcoin purchases.”
Elsewhere, Wood said the genomics space is also set to reach evacuation speed.
“DNA sequencing will introduce science to health decision-making for the first time,” said Wood. “We can honestly say that so far more than half of all healthcare decisions have been made, to some extent, through assumptions or experiences. Now we have the data.”
ARK’s Genomics ETF has high bets on Exact Sciences, which accounts for almost 5% of the ETF and Invitae. CRISPR Therapeutics is another major stake in the ETF.
“We will be able to cure diseases we never thought we could cure, including cancer,” Wood said.
ARK Innovation shares rose 2.5% this year, and ARK Genomic Revolution shares rose below 1% in 2021.
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