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Cathie Wood’s woeful year

■ “Gyrating” investment conditions over the last year have “derailed” even high-flying fund managers, says Jamie Colvin on Citywire. Only 6% of the 212 funds in the UK All Companies sector beat the FTSE All-Share index in each of the last five years. However, 57% of funds have still beaten the market over the five years as a whole. The figures, compiled by wealth manager Quilter Cheviot, show that investors who concentrate on calendar-year returns will miss the bigger picture. Underperformance in 2021 does not mean investors should abandon a fund if they have recognised a fund manager’s strong stock-picking skills. The Lindsell Train UK Equity fund, managed by Nick Train, lagged 7.9% behind the FTSE All-Share, but has still delivered annual returns 3.2% greater than the index over the last five years. Focusing on funds with different management styles also remains important, since no style will deliver exceptional performance in all market conditions.

■ Cathie Wood’s Disruptive Innovation ETF fell 21% in 2021, its worst performance since 2014, after delivering “skyhigh” returns of 150% in 2020, says Markets Insider. Last year’s bumper returns helped Wood’s firm ARK Invest amass over $17bn in assets under management in its flagship fund. But it was hit hard by a drop in “work-from-home stocks” such as Zoom Video and Teladoc. Its poor returns were probably “a surprise to Wood”, who had predicted a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 20% in December 2020. She has now increased her forecast to 40%.