ARK files for 14 thematic ETFs that are not yet for sale

ARK ETF Trust filed a preliminary prospectus on Nov. 6 for 14 new actively managed exchange-traded funds. The cover says the information is not complete and may be changed, and that the shares may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell them.

The filing asks to become effective 75 days after it was filed. Counted from Nov. 6, 2026, that is Jan. 20, 2027. Under the Commission's rule for adding a new fund to an existing trust, that kind of amendment can become effective automatically after the set period, as the Commission described it in a request for comment published in the Federal Register on July 2, 2026. The prospectus does not name a first day of trading.

Every fee table leaves the management fee blank, inside brackets. A blank is not a zero-fee fund. Ticker symbols are empty. The listing line names Cboe BZX Exchange, also in brackets.

Total return swaps and the 80% test

ARK Investment Management LLC would advise all 14. Each draft objective is long-term growth of capital. Under normal circumstances, each fund would put at least 80% of its assets in investments the prospectus ties to its theme.

The drafts say the funds expect to get that exposure primarily through total return swaps, and that they would also buy the companies' shares. They may hold private equity and restricted securities. The statement of additional information says the funds may invest up to 15% of net assets in illiquid investments.

The prospectus says these swaps can lose money if the reference does not perform as expected, that they add leverage, that the counterparty might default, and that the losses can be unlimited. It also says that if the Internal Revenue Service were to succeed in treating income from the swaps as not qualifying, and that income were over 10% of a fund's gross income in a year, the fund could fail the test to be taxed as a regulated investment company.

The statement of additional information says the funds expect to use one counterparty, or a limited number, and that the notional amount of the swaps, their stated size, is not limited.

The same strategy sections count U.S. government securities, money market instruments, and other short-term debt toward the 80%. Each draft defines those holdings as part of that fund's strategy. Derivatives count toward the test to the extent they provide exposure to the theme.

The prospectus says exposure would come primarily through swaps, and that a significant portion of exposure would be swaps and direct stock holdings together, without a number on either share. How much of the 80% could be government securities is left open.

The ARK Tokenized Market Infrastructure ETF is the draft that sets a limit on digital assets. It will not invest directly in cryptocurrency, and it will not invest directly in any U.S.-listed exchange-traded product that provides that exposure. It may reach those products only through total return swaps that reference them. The draft names products tied to Ether and Solana as examples.

It does not currently intend to invest in a company whose primary business purpose is to provide exposure to cryptocurrency. The same section says the fund would invest in companies the adviser believes are building infrastructure to tokenize traditional financial or physical assets, including stablecoin issuers, exchanges, and brokerages. The prospectus states both. It does not say how it would classify a stablecoin issuer that also exists to provide cryptocurrency exposure.

What the 14 funds would own

In the summaries, each draft says the fund will concentrate, more than 25% of assets, in one sector or two, and the sector names are still in brackets. In the statement of additional information, those names are written without brackets except for the cyber-defense fund, whose information technology line is still bracketed.

ARK funds already trading

The statement of additional information says it relates solely to the 14 funds in this filing. ARK Investment Management's ARK Innovation ETF, ARKK, is not one of them, and neither are the other equity ETFs the firm already runs.

ARK Investment Management's ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF, ARKQ, invests in autonomous technology and robotics companies, including transportation and artificial intelligence. The robotaxis and humanoid-robot drafts name those themes.

ARK Investment Management's ARK Genomic Revolution ETF, ARKG, invests in companies tied to the genomics revolution, including companies expected to benefit from extending and enhancing human life. The functional-cures draft, aimed at one-time genetic medicines, is the one that tracks that theme.

ARK Investment Management's ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF, ARKF, invests in blockchain and financial-technology companies. The neobanks and tokenized-market drafts sit next to that theme.

ARK Investment Management's ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF, ARKX, invests in space exploration, which the firm defines as products and services beyond the surface of the Earth. The orbital-data-centers draft is the one that fits that definition.

The brain-computer, peptides, neoclouds, AI factory, frontier-labs, AI agents, and cyber-defense drafts do not line up with one fund in that group.

Other funds already in these niches

Dedicated funds already trade in several of these niches.

Roundhill Investments' Robotaxi, Autonomous Vehicles & Technology ETF, CABZ, has traded since Jan. 14 and charges 0.59%. NCLD has traded since Aug. 6, and PEPT launched on Oct. 14.

TKNQ says it does not invest directly in digital assets. ARK's tokenized-market draft says the same about direct holdings, and it adds swap exposure to U.S.-listed products that hold cryptocurrency.