Brendan McDermid / Reuters
- Virgin Galactic shares rose up to 22% on Thursday.
- The space tourism group can be added to Ark Investment Management’s planned Space Exploration ETF.
- The fund manages a total of $ 42 billion in ETF products, Bloomberg estimates.
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Virgin Galactic’s stock soared by 22% on Thursday, increasing its market capitalization by about $ 1.4 billion, after a major investment fund released plans to launch a space-themed stock fund.
Investors in the commercial space flight company – which has billionaire businessman Richard Branson as co-founder and billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya as president – are betting that it will be included in Ark Investment Management’s ARK Space Exploration ETF.
Ark, led by founder and chief investment officer Cathie Wood, already manages seven ETFs focused on areas such as genomics, 3D printing, robotics and financial technology. Its flagship Ark Innovation ETF has Tesla as its biggest stake.
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Thanks to a massive influx of investor capital in recent months, Ark now manages about $ 42 billion in ETF products – a sharp increase from less than $ 4 billion a year ago, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Wood and his team plan to actively manage their space ETF. They intend to invest in national and foreign space exploration and innovation companies and hold between 40 and 55 shares.
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