Thematic ETFs

What thematic ETFs are

Thematic ETFs invest around an idea or trend rather than a market index, a sector classification or a commodity. The thematic fund we track is ARKK, the ARK Innovation ETF from ARK Invest. It is actively managed: instead of following an index, its managers choose the holdings and can change them at any time.

ARKK's focus

ARK describes its focus as disruptive innovation: companies it expects to benefit from areas such as genomics, automation and robotics, financial technology and next-generation internet and cloud services. Because it does not track an index, the benchmark field on its page reads "actively managed".

How it differs from index funds

An index fund's holdings are set by the index rules; an active fund's holdings reflect its managers' views. ARKK holds a fairly concentrated portfolio of growth companies, so it can rise and fall much more than broad funds such as SPY or QQQ. Its results depend on both the theme and the managers' stock selection, and a concentrated active fund can lag the wider market for long stretches as well as lead it.

Costs

Active management usually costs more than tracking an index. ARKK shows an expense ratio of 0.75% a year, compared with 0.03% for VOO and VTI and 0.0945% for SPY on our index ETF page.

Comparing ARKK

Thematic funds are often compared with technology funds because their holdings lean toward growth and tech companies. To see how ARKK's daily move compares, look at QQQ, XLK or the semiconductor funds on the sector ETF page; the ETF heat map shows all 28 funds side by side. Prices come from Yahoo Finance's regular US session and may be delayed.

What the daily data shows and what it doesn't

This page shows ARKK's price, daily change and 1-week, 1-month and 1-year returns next to the broad market. It does not list the fund's current holdings, because they change with the managers' decisions; ARK Invest publishes its holdings on its own website. Past performance, strong or weak, does not indicate future results, and the fund can go through long stretches when it performs very differently from the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100.