ARK Investment Management Launches The ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF On The Cboe ETF Marketplace

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK), a New York based registered investment adviser, today launched the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL), primarily listed on the Cboe ETF Marketplace. 

The ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL) is designed to provide exposure to, and capture the price movements of, exchange listed Israeli companies whose main business operations are causing disruptive innovation in what ARK believes to be the highest growth potential segments of the economy: the Internet, technology, genomics, health care, biotechnology, industrials, and manufacturing. With an annual expense ratio of 0.49%, IZRL will charge at least 18.6% below the current US-listed Israel-focused ETFs (which range between 0.59% and 0.75% annually). IZRL spans the full market capitalization spectrum, and will rebalance on a quarterly basis tracking the ARK Israeli Innovation Index IZRLINVN.

Since its inception on October 1, 2015, the ARK Israeli Innovation Index has returned 17.9% at a compound annual rate as of September 30, 2017, outperforming the MSCI Israel Index (MXIL: -10.1% annualized), the MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index (MISCNU: 4.3% annualized), and the BlueStar Israel Global Index (BLSNTR: 3.3% annualized).

ARK believes that Israel is an innovation powerhouse.  Ranked highly for innovation capacity and entrepreneurship, including the 2nd overall for innovation by the 2017 Global Competitiveness Index,¹ Israel is a global leader in the development and marketing of new products and services, technological improvements, and advancements in scientific research.

Following Israel's promotion to developed market status in early 2010, however, many portfolios significantly underweight the country relative to growth and innovation projections. In fact, as of September 30^th, 2017, Israel represented only 0.14% of the MSCI World (Developed) Index.

"Unintentionally, and often unknowingly, benchmark-sensitive investors lowered their exposure to Israel dramatically after its promotion to developed market status in 2010," stated Catherine D. Wood, ARK's Founder, CEO, and CIO. "According to ARK's research, at the end of 2009, 13 Israeli stocks represented approximately 3.4% of the market cap of the MSCI Emerging Market Index. If Israel were to have maintained its weight in the MSCI Emerging Market Index, then 3.4% would account for $427 billion in market cap today. Instead, following the promotion of Israel to developed market status, four Israeli companies now represent roughly 0.14%, or $62 billion, of the MSCI World (Developed) Index market cap.  Consequently, Israel has lost access to $365 billion of exposure in global equity market indices. For perspective, Israel's GDP should approximate $340 billion in 2017."

"ARK believes that innovation is the key to growth and countless rankings show the innovative capacity of Israeli companies," said Tom Staudt, ARK's Chief Operating Officer and Director of Product Development. "Most investors would have significantly more exposure to these companies if Israel were geographically located within traditional index regions. ARK believes that IZRL will help take advantage of significant growth opportunities and market inefficiencies, and provide exposure to a truly unique growth story."

ARK offers a full range of institutional and retail investment products focused on disruptive innovation. Aside from the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL), ARK continues to expand its commitment to disruptive innovation through various investment solutions, including SMA's, Mutual Funds, and a suite of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ARK's current ETF offerings include: the ARK Innovation ETF ARKK, the ARK Industrial Innovation ETF ARKQ, the ARK Web x.0 ETF ARKW, the ARK Genomic Revolution Multi-Sector ETF ARKG, and The 3D Printing ETF PRNT.

About ARK Investment Management LLC
Headquartered in New York City, ARK Investment Management LLC is a federally registered investment adviser and privately held investment firm with approximately $2.78 billion assets under management as of November 31, 2017. Specializing in thematic investing in disruptive innovation, the firm is rooted in over 40 years of experience in identifying and investing in disruptive innovations that should change the way the world works and deliver outsized growth as industries transform. Through its open research process, ARK identifies companies that it believes are leading and benefiting from cross-sector innovations such as robotics, 3D printing, big data, machine learning, blockchain technology, cloud computing, energy storage, and DNA sequencing. ARK's investment strategies include: Industrial Innovation, Next Generation Internet, Genomic Revolution, Fintech Innovations, 3D Printing, Israel Innovative Technology, and the overall ARK Disruptive Innovation Strategy.

In July 2016, Resolute Investment Managers, Inc., the parent company of American Beacon Advisors, Inc., announced that it had taken an investment of a minority interest in ARK. In August 2017, Nikko Asset Management ("Nikko AM") acquired a minority stake in ARK to enhance its disruptive innovation focused investment solutions. These partnerships are providing ARK with distribution across the United States and the Asia Pacific regions.

For additional information regarding ARK's funds, please visit http://www.ark-funds.com.

For more information regarding ARK's research and advisor services, please visit http://www.ark-invest.com.

ARK can be followed on Twitter at @ARKInvest. Catherine D. Wood can be followed on Twitter at @CathieDWood. ARK's Director of Research, Brett Winton, can be followed on Twitter at @wintonARK. ARKs analysts can be followed on Twitter at @TashaARK, @skorusARK, @jwangARK, @juliahARK, @bhavanaARK, and @msamyARK.

Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting www.ark-funds.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.   Foreside Fund Services, LLC.  Distributor.

The principal risks of investing in ARK's Index ETFs include equity, market, concentration and non-diversification risks, as well as fluctuations in market value and net asset value ("NAV"). The principal risks of investing in IZRL: Equity Securities Risk. The value of the equity securities the Fund holds may fall due to general market and economic conditions. Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. Index Tracking Risk. The returns of the ETF may not match the returns of the underlying index that the ETF is designed to track. Industrials Sector Risk. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government regulation, world events, economic conditions, environmental damages, product liability claims and exchange rates. Information Technology Sector Risk. Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins.

The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants ("APs") on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that those APs exit the business or are unable to process creation and/or redemption orders, and no other AP is able to step forward to create and redeem in either of these cases, Shares may possibly trade at a discount to NAV.

¹ The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017 

Contact:
Shaina Lamb, 1-646-808-3731, shaina@dlpr.com  
Stephanie Dressler, 1-949-269-2535, stephanie@dlpr.com

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SOURCE ARK Investment Management