ARK Invest LLC, the parent of ARK Investment Management LLC, the investment manager led by CEO Cathie Wood, has acquired Rize ETF Limited, Europe’s first specialist thematic ETF issuer.

This transaction marks a significant milestone in ARK Invest’s global expansion strategy and will pave the way for the firm to introduce its suite of cutting-edge innovation ETFs, under the UCITS framework, to investors across Europe, the United Kingdom, and beyond, while also facilitating the sustained growth and expansion of Rize ETF’s thematic products.

“Today’s acquisition advances ARK Invest’s commitment to offer high-quality thematic investment solutions to a global investor audience, particularly European investors who have not been able to access our products,” said Cathie Wood, Founder, CIO, and CEO of ARK Invest. “We believe that the European ETF market presents a strong growth opportunity as new and younger investors continue to gain access to ETFs via the growth of digital platforms, and as active ETFs increase market share by meeting the demand for innovative investment exposures. We are delighted to welcome the talented Rize ETF team into the ARK family. By merging its passion for thematic and sustainable index investing with ARK’s innovative actively managed approach centered on disruptive innovation, we can offer our clients a more diverse array of investment options to invest in the future. Together, we will continue to educate and empower investors, helping them to achieve their long-term financial goals.”

Rize ETF is a leading European provider of thematic and sustainable investing. Founded in 2019 by thematic ETF pioneers Anthony Martin, Jason Kennard, Rahul Bhushan, and Stuart Forbes, Rize ETF specializes in creating high quality, research-led and purpose-built thematic ETFs. The Rize ETF Founders are a proven team of ETF experts and have over 40 years of combined ETF experience. They previously built the European ETF business for ETF Securities (acquired by WisdomTree) and Legal & General, respectively.

“The acquisition offers ARK an entry into the European ETF market, capitalizing on our expertise and track record in building multiple European ETF businesses,” said Stuart Forbes, Co-Founder of Rize ETF. “Leveraging ARK’s global network and our expertise in European distribution, we aim to strengthen our collective global presence. This initiative signifies not just business growth, but a collaborative exchange of global asset management best practices, insights, and tactics.”

The existing name and brand of Rize ETF will be phased out, and the platform will transition into “ARK Invest Europe,” which will be a division of ARK Invest Limited. ARK Invest Europe will serve as the hub for ARK’s expansion into the Europe, the UK and new markets globally. Under the new ARK Invest Europe platform, existing Rize ETF index products will remain available. ARK Invest Europe will continue to uphold the high standards of investment research, portfolio management, and client service for which ARK is known, all while tapping into Rize ETF’s deep expertise covering the full lifecycle of ETFs beginning with product strategy and index development, legal and regulatory, tax, portfolio management and operations, capital markets, research and marketing & distribution.

ARK purchased Rize ETF from AssetCo, a UK asset and wealth management business primarily involved in acquiring, managing, and operating asset and wealth management activities and interests, together with other related services. As part of this agreement, ARK and AssetCo will partner to support the launch, on the newly established ARK Invest Europe platform, of several ETF products for the River and Mercantile business, AssetCo’s active equity asset management subsidiary. ARK is minority-owned by Nikko Asset Management.

As of August 31, 2023, Rize ETF managed $452 million in assets in 11 ETFs all categorized as SFDR Article 8 or 9 compliant, domiciled in Dublin and distributed throughout Europe. ARK managed approximately $25 billion in ETFs and other products globally.

Additional details about the acquisition will be released in the coming weeks

Source: ARK