The ARK Genomic Revolution Multi-Sector ETF (NYSEArca: ARKG) fund may focus on biotechnological advances, but it’s been delivering freak of nature-like returns as of late. With ARKG up over 40% YTD despite the pandemic sell-off in March, it’s been a stellar performer and one that exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors need to watch as the economies across the nation begin to reopen.
ARKG dropped as much as 35% in March, but that proved to be nothing more than a mere speed bump to a monster truck. Since then, it rocketed upwards of 30% past its pre-selloff high in early March en route to a checkmark-style recovery:
What’s behind the wheel of this unprecedented drive higher? As medical technology is looking for answers to combat the coronavirus, one of the ways is via genomic sequencing.
Per an Engineering and Technology article, “Genomics, which is concerned with the genetic material of an organism, is one of the most promising areas of research for Covid-19. By unlocking the virus’ genetic code and that of the most severely affected hosts – the patients – experts hope to better inform public health decisions and find effective treatments.”
“As a virus replicates itself in different hosts, it accumulates small ‘typos’ in its code called mutations. While the vast majority of mutations are not functional, by identifying them in different viral samples we can track and trace the infections’ spread locally and from one to another,” explains Emma Hodcroft, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
“If two samples have the same typos, it means they probably come from a parent virus that also has these typos, and so can be identified as more closely related or from the same infection chain,” she added.
ARKG’s primary focus is to seek long-term growth of capita via active management. The fund invests primarily in domestic and foreign equity securities of companies across multiple sectors, including healthcare, information technology, materials, energy, and consumer discretionary, that are relevant to the fund’s investment theme of the genomics revolution.
Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are typically associated with disruptive technology and before long, this technology could represent standard fare in all industries. As noted, genomics is also taking its own revolutionary steps as a disruptor, particularly in the health care industry.
For investors who missed out on the serendipitous run of FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) stocks, they can look to capitalize on disruptive tech options in 2019 like genomics.
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