By Robert Ross

Im sure all of you have heard of ARK Invest founder, CEO, and CIO Catherine Wood.

She is a crowd favorite at Mauldin Economics annual Strategic Investment Conference. (Mark your calendar for May 514, 2021, and stay tuned to your email for details about this years virtual event.)

Catherine is also one of the worlds greatest investors. Her flagship fund, theARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), was the best-performing actively managed ETF in the world last year.

Two things make this fund unique

First, you wont find many actively run ETFs like this in the market, especially one with a triple-digit gain like the 148% ARKK returned in 2020.

Second, youre not going to find the same kind of staid, safe stocks that anchor traditional investorsand a lot of fund managersportfolios.

Catherine focuses her research on companies that are disruptive. This includes companies that are making a name for themselves with electric vehicles, digital payments, and genetic sequencing.

With such strong performance, its no surprise her assets under management grew tenfold to become the largest active ETF in the worldjust six years after she launched it.

ARKK is already up 18% in 2021. And withtechnology set to be 2021s top-performing sector, theres likely a lot more upside in store.

But if you want real moonshot potential, well, theres about to be an ETF for that, too.

This month, ARK Invest filed paperwork for a new space exploration fund.

TheARK Space Exploration ETF (Pending: ARKX)will hold companies at the forefront of one of the fastest-growing industries on the planet.

A lot has changed in the half-century since Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon.

The government is still in the game, but the private sector is breaking into the space race in a big way.

A massive $415 billion was spent on the space industry just in 2019. Thats up 79% since 2009:

Some 80% of this spending came from private industry. That is, the companies that build everything from satellite systems to deep-space rocket technology to specialty suits designed for astronauts in flight.

This growth has been explosive, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Morgan Stanley expects the global space industry to generate over $1 trillion in revenues by 2040.

Thats up from $350 billion today.

A large chunk of this growth will come from US military spending.

Military spending is expected to reach $738 billion next year. Thats 20% of theentirefederal budget.

Not even the current coronavirus recession should cause the US government to scale back on defense spending. It has actuallygrownduring the last six recessions:

And while broader defense spending looks to be rising steadily

The Trump administration was one of the most pro-space administrations in modern history.

It established a new, uniformed branch of the military known as Space Force. And it earmarked $23 billion for space-related projects in the current budget.

That was up 63% from the previous year:

And because 100% of this money will be spent on US companies, owning space-related stocks and ETFs is the ultimate way to buy American.

One segment of the space market that benefits heavily from US government spending is the satellite industry.

According to the Satellite Industry Association, satellite manufacturing is a $20 billion marketplace on its own. Its dominated by large aerospace conglomerates likeBoeing (BA):

Boeing is an obvious beneficiary. Yet it only generates a small part of its sales from space technology.

There are better ways to profit from the new space race

In addition to satellite manufacturers, you also have companies that operate and service these satellites once theyve gone into space.

One such company isIridium Communications (IRDM).

Iridium is responsible for 66 satellites used for worldwide voice and data communication. It provides critical services for pagers, satellite phones, and air traffic control systems.

These are mission-critical systems that need real-time access 24/7. The US government is a reliable client; so are other governments, businesses, and individuals around the globe.

IRDM doesnt pay a dividend. But there are plenty of companies in this stock universe that do

Most pure-play space stocks are small, fast-growing companies. That means they just dont have extra cash left over each quarter to reward their investors.

However, Ive found a duo of dividend payers that benefit directly from space technology

The first is the worlds largest telecom company,AT&T (T).

AT&T is ingrained in the space industry. It is even working with NASA to improve the Deep Space Network, which supports communications during interplanetary space missions.

When it comes to dividend payers, its hard to top AT&T. The company is a Dividend Aristocrat, meaning it has increased its dividend for more than 25 years in a row. In AT&Ts case, it has raised its payout for 35 years in a row.

Then theresGarmin (GRMN), which you might remember for its bulky GPS consoles.

That was lightyears ago. Since then, the company has picked up significant exposure to the space industry. Last year, 20% of its sales were from aerospace.

And with a 2.7% dividend yield, the company is a solid dividend option for income investors.

But its not my top option. MyYield Sharksubscribers know theres one aerospace and defense company that rises above the rest. With a dividend yield thats twice that of the 10-year Treasury bill, its a great option for any income investors portfolio.Click here to unlock this stocktoday.

Originally published by Mauldin Economics, 1/27/21

Link:

These Space Stocks Are Going to the Moon - ETF Trends