Moving to Europe is hard, as many Americans find out on their gap year. 

Cathie Wood’s set of Ark ETFs were rolled out to European investors earlier this year, but as it stands she may have overestimated demand for her brand of actively-managed ETFs on this side of the pond. 

Asset Allocator can reveal the flagship Ark Innovation, Ark Genomic Revolution, and Ark Artificial Intelligence & Robotics funds have, in total, amassed less than £15mn of assets in the five months since launch.

Broken down, that translates to £6.5mn in the Innovation mandate, £2mn in Genomics, and £3.5mn in AI, according to data from Morningstar Direct. 

It is obviously far too early to appear smug, but last year we looked into how demand for thematic ETFs – among the DFM market at least – is particularly soft. 

This is in part down to the fact that thematic products are essentially competing with investment trusts, rather than open-ended funds, for space in portfolios – and even trust usage among the allocators we cover is scarce. 

But another reason can be attributed to a wider identity crisis facing active ETFs as they struggle to find a defined role in the investable universe. 

We spoke to James Godrich, a fund manager at JM Finn, who told us he either seeks an active manager to pursue opportunities theselves, or else he goes passive. 

“If I've made the conclusion that that's an efficient market, why would I want to own an active ETF?” he said. 

"I've either come to the conclusion that there is opportunity for active outperformance –so let's go and exploit that – or there isn't, so let's try to gain the beta exposure of the market.”

In Wood’s defence, AUM can often be first a trickle then a flood, so we may need to wait three years before assessing how effectively the strategies have grown. 

Until that point, however, we won’t hold our breath.