Introducing ARK Invest on Lightyear

ARK Invest was founded with a core conviction that disruptive innovation, defined as technology that fundamentally changes how the world works, is the most important source of long-term growth in public markets.

Today, they manage around $30 billion globally on behalf of investors who share that view.

ARK organises its entire research effort around five innovation platforms: artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, multiomic sequencing and public blockchains. The hypothesis is that companies leading these sectors, alongside those enabling and benefiting from them, are the ones most likely to define the next era of growth.

From today, you can access four actively managed funds from ARK on Lightyear:

• ARK Innovation UCITS ETF is ARK's flagship strategy. A high-conviction portfolio of around 40 US-listed companies pulled from across all five innovation platforms. If you’re looking for one fund that captures ARK's core ideas in disruptive innovation, this is it. Top holdings are Tesla, Space Exploration Technologies and Tempus AI.
• ARK Artificial Intelligence & Robotics UCITS ETF is a focused play on AI and robotics. Holdings span chip design, cloud infrastructure, autonomous mobility and humanoid robots. The fund is built specifically for investors who want exposure to the companies powering the AI buildout, with Tesla, NVIDIA and Space Exploration Technologies among the top holdings.
• ARK Genomic Revolution UCITS ETF gives exposure to companies pushing genomic sequencing, precision therapies, programmable biology and AI-driven drug discovery. This fund believes in healthcare moving from one-size-fits-all to personalised, with top holdings being Twist Bioscience, 10x Genomics Inc and Tempus AI.
• ARK Space & Defence Innovation UCITS ETF targets the convergence of reusable rockets, satellites, AI sensing and modern defence systems. Top holdings include Space Exploration Technologies, L3Harris Technologies and Kratos Derence & Security Solutions. It is also the first defence-themed active ETF in Europe classified as Article 8 under SFDR (the EU's sustainable finance rules). That means the fund excludes the likes of controversial weapons, fossil fuels, tobacco and gambling, which you don’t often find in a defence-focused fund.

ARK's research process for fund holdings starts with the technology, not the sector. They look for innovations that meet three criteria:

1. Experiences dramatic cost declines that unlock new demand
2. Creates technology that cuts through industries and geographies
3. Serves as a platform for further innovations

Individual companies are then scored on a framework covering execution, people and culture, competitive moat, product leadership, valuation discipline over a five-year horizon, and thesis risk. The result is a portfolio of what ARK calls the leaders, enablers and beneficiaries of disruptive innovation, regardless of which sector they technically sit in.

These are thematic, actively managed strategies. They are designed for a moderate-to-high risk profile and a medium-to-long-term horizon, with the understanding that innovation-led portfolios can be more volatile than the broader market.

Both Lightyear and ARK are built for long-term investors. Lightyear exists to help people in Europe build wealth across decades; ARK's framework runs on a five-year time horizon, looking for companies whose value comes from where technology is heading.

"We've spent more than a decade focused exclusively on disruptive innovation, because we believe that's where the largest pools of long-term growth will come from," says Cathie Wood, Founder, CEO and CIO of ARK Invest.

"Bringing our strategies to Lightyear means more European investors can access that thinking within the portfolio they already use, and invest in future growth, without having to do the heavy lifting of research and managing portfolio allocations."

You can find ARK funds on Lightyear now. As always, if you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to reach out to our team.