A Cathie Wood ETF bought about 800,000 shares in a Serena Williams-backed SPAC that just entered a $1.6 billion deal

• Cathie Wood's ARK Robotics fund bought about 800,000 shares in a SPAC backed by Serena Williams.
• The SPAC, called Jaws Spitfire, recently entered a $1.6 billion merger with a 3D printing company.
• Wood's flagship Innovation ETF is currently sitting on a 8% year-to-date loss.

Cathie Wood's ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics exchange-traded fund recently bought shares in a special-purpose acquisition company that counts tennis champion Serena Williams as a board member.

The ARKQ ETF snapped up 800,494 shares in Jaws Spitfire Acquisition Corp, according to data available on ARK Invest's website. The fund counts Tesla, JD.com, Baidu, and Alphabet among its top ten holdings.

Miami-based Jaws is led by chairman Barry Sternlicht and CEO Matthew Walters. The SPAC recently entered a merger deal with digital manufacturing firm Velo3D to take it public, valuing the combined company at $1.6 billion.

Wood and the red-hot SPAC market have been caught up in a bit of a rough patch. Blank-check companies have already raised $96 billion across 296 IPOs so far in 2021, according to SPACInsider.com. Blank-check stocks tumbled on Thursday after Reuters reported the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an inquiry into Wall Street's SPAC frenzy and seeking voluntary information on dealings.

But 93% of SPACs that went public this week are trading below their $10 IPO price, Dealogic data compiled by Reuters showed. That is 14 out of 15 SPACs trading below par value.

Wood is known for her innovative investments in disruptive stocks. But her flagship $22.9 billion Innovation ETF is currently sitting on a 8% year-to-date loss after a broader pullback in high-growth stocks across multiple sectors. Meanwhile, the ARKQ ETF that bought into Jaws is up 4.6% year-to-date.