Russel Pillemer
Pengana Capital Group has announced the successful completion of the capital raising for its market-first AI Private Opportunities Trust, AIX, which raised $267 million from wholesale investors and clients of financial advisers. An ASX listing date is slated for 2 July.
Once listed, AIX will hold some of the world’s most influential private AI companies and provide Australian investors with one of the most accessible ways to gain exposure to these companies before they go public.
AIX already has agreements to gain exposure to ByteDance and Handshake, and is targeting additional early exposure to other leading AI companies including Anthropic and OpenAI.
Russel Pillemer, CEO of Pengana Capital Group, said there is potential for major uplift by targeting these AI companies while they are still private. “We have seen a big shift in recent years where a huge amount of the valuation uplift is occurring while tech companies are still private.
“SpaceX is the most stunning example of this trend, with a separate Pengana vehicle, ASX listed PE1 participating in the huge valuation upswing since the position was initially acquired in 2020.
“We expect this trend to continue with the leading AI companies, as they can attract capital and grow significantly while remaining private.”
Pillemer said most Australian investors are under-exposed to the AI theme. “We believe the AI boom is a major structural economic shift, yet there are few ways for investors to participate given most AI companies are staying in private hands.
“AIX helps solve this dilemma, providing Australian investors a way to buy in to these AI companies and participate in their growth before they list.”
AIX, which is a listed investment trust, will have an innovative self-liquidating structure targeting a seven-year lifespan. Following an initial two-year period during which realised gains will be distributed to investors and capital reinvested, both realised capital and gains will be returned to investors from the third year as underlying investments are realised through IPOs, secondary sales or acquisitions. If the Trust continues beyond seven years, management fees will reduce to zero, aligning management with the Trust’s expected life.
The Trust’s investments will be managed by US-based GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset manager with more than US$91 billion in assets under management, which also manages investments for the Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX: PE1).