Yesterday your Purus Investment Committee was provided the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time, in our office, with CEO/CIO Cathie Wood, the brilliant mind behind the ARK Invest innovative investment platform. We have been long time investors in the ARK funds, and many of you have joined us in the past for our webinars based on their Big Ideas. Cathie shared some of her thoughts with us on the current market and where technology might be taking us.

One of the main themes we talked about was Artificial Intelligence and how it is poised to shape our future. In the same way that the computer, internet, and mobile phones reshaped almost every aspect of our lives – so will Artificial Intelligence. Last year was one of the toughest years in the market that we have experienced in a long time. Cathie reminded us that innovation gains traction during tough times - during tough times is when we need to make things cheaper, better, faster. In her words, “innovation is actually a flight to safety.”

A big differentiator between the ARK process and others is that ARK analysts look at the different types of technology, agnostic of sector or market cap. This process allows them to see outside the box when it comes to how a certain technology or innovative idea will affect the market. It seems the team at ARK and your Purus Investment Committee have something in common, a commitment to research and a conviction that innovative technology continues to present immense opportunities.