What if you had copied ARK Invest?
Cathie Wood
The verdict
Copying ARK Invest's 13F filings from Feb 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $18,576, less than the S&P 500 did.
The S&P 500 turned the same $10,000 into $25,598 over the same days. The copy returned +9.6% a year against +14.9% for the S&P 500, 5.3 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 77.3%, from Feb 12, 2021 to Dec 28, 2022. The S&P 500's worst fall over the test was 33.7%.
Copied Feb 3, 2020 to Nov 9, 2026 · SEC 13F filings and daily closes
What $10,000 became
- Copying ARK Invest$18,576
- S&P 500$25,598
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$22,601
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $22,601, so following every move cost $4,025.
- $10,000 copied
- $18,576
- +85.8%, +9.6% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $25,598
- +156.0%, +14.9% a year
- No trading
- $22,601
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −77.3%
- Feb 12, 2021 to Dec 28, 2022
- Trades
- 331
- 190 buys, 141 sales over 27 filings; about 59% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- TSLATesla+$5,120
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 633%
- HOODRobinhood Markets+$1,292
Held since Nov 2021, the stock up 142%
- PLTRPalantir Technologies+$1,251
Held since May 2021, the stock up 554%
- AMDAdvanced Micro Devices+$1,113
Held since Jan 2024, the stock up 228%
- XYZBlock+$1,021
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 12%
- TWSTTwist Bioscience+$737
Held since May 2020, the stock up 238%
The moves that cost the most
- TDOCTeladoc Health−$2,254
Held from Feb 2020 to Nov 2024, the stock down 91%
- ZMZoom Communications−$1,249
Held from Feb 2021 to Nov 2024, the stock down 83%
- TWLOTwilio−$927
Held from Feb 2020 to Jul 2024, the stock down 60%
- PATHUipath−$922
Held from Aug 2021 to Jul 2025, the stock down 81%
Held from Aug 2020 to Apr 2023, the stock down 92%
- UUnity Software−$507
Held from Nov 2020 to Feb 2025, the stock down 78%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Feb 2020 | +134.3% | +17.5% | +116.8 |
| 2021 | −17.5% | +28.7% | −46.3 |
| 2022 | −63.7% | −18.2% | −45.5 |
| 2023 | +61.5% | +26.2% | +35.3 |
| 2024 | +19.8% | +24.9% | −5.1 |
| 2025 | +24.0% | +17.7% | +6.3 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | +10.5% | +11.5% | −1.0 |
A historical test on paper, before costs and taxes. It trades at the close of the first trading day after each filing comes out, up to 45 days after the quarter, and skips delisted companies, which flatters it.