Ark Invest's Cathie Wood has high hopes for Chinese stocks in the long run - and says her fund's analysts were blown away by Tesla's AI day

Ark Invest; Insider
Bloomberg was informed by Cathie Wood that she is not pessimistic regarding China stocks long-term.

She said that China's recent regulatory actions were justified and that most governments are concerned with data privacy.

Ark's analysts were "blown off" by Tesla's AI Day, when Musk promised a humanoid robotic robot. She said.

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Cathie Wood is optimistic about China stocks over the long-term and revealed in a recent interview Ark Invest's analysts were blown out by Tesla's AI Day.

She said that she is not pessimistic about China's future because she believes they are a highly entrepreneurial society. "It's true that the government is adding more regulations and rules. However, I don't believe the government is trying to stop progress and growth.

"What I will say is that I am a little more optimistic than other countries about the United States, so it's more relative," she stated. She also said that China's insularity makes it less competitive in special areas such as artificial intelligence.

Ark Invest announced Monday that it had reinvested JD.com after quickly shedding Chinese stocks exposure due to Beijing’s ongoing regulatory crackdown. Wood bought more than 150,000 American depositary receipts from the e-commerce company after reporting strong second-quarter earnings.

Wood explained to Bloomberg that Ark has sorted through companies doing the things that the Chinese government enjoys and is now focusing its investments on companies that specialize in logistics, manufacturing and groceries. She said that logistics is a large part of JD.com.

She said that Pinduoduo was also a big purchase. "We swapped them out of names we believe are in danger or under government pressure like Alibaba."

Wood, who was recognized for her fund's strong performance in 2020, sold Chinese stocks after Beijing clamped down on education and tech sectors. In an interview, Wood defended China's decision to dump Chinese stocks. She said that China's authorities do many of the same things as other countries around the globe.

She stated that "most governments are concerned about data privacy and national security, as well as concerned in certain ways about the impact on social media."

Ark's fund manager noted that Ark's analysts were also "blown away" at Tesla's AI Day, where Elon Musk revealed plans for a robot-like humanoid that will perform repetitive tasks and lower labor costs.

Tesla is Wood's most conviction bet and one of her top holdings in the ARK Innovation ETF.

She said, "Every day, especially as we learn more about their AI expertise. How they're really driving this space so speak much faster than anyone else right now." We believe they are in the lead."

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