Market-first global AI investment trust AIX clears minimum subscription, eyes $350 million raising
Russel Pillemer
Pengana Capital Group has announced it is planning to raise up to $350 million for its market-first AI listed investment trust, to be called AIX, which will aim to invest in the world’s largest and most influential private AI companies.
Pengana announced that it has achieved its minimum subscription following a successful cornerstone offer, which was upsized to $150 million from an initial $100 million target, following strong demand.
The AIX PDS has been lodged today, and the offer will be open from 10 June to 19 June 2026, ahead of an expected listing in early July.
AIX will operate as an innovative self-liquidating ASX listed trust structure, with investments managed by US-based GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset manager with more than US$91 billion in assets under management. Grosvenor also manages investments for the Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX: PE1), one of few ways Australian investors can access SpaceX pre-IPO.
The self-liquidating AIX will target a seven-year lifespan: following an initial two-year period where any gains will be released to investors, and capital reinvested, both capital and gains will be returned to investors from year 2, as underlying investments are realised through IPO, secondary sale or acquisition. If the Trust continues beyond a seven-year lifespan the management fee will reduce to zero, aligning management with the Trust’s expected life.
Russel Pillemer, CEO of Pengana Capital Group, said Pengana’s relationship with Grosvenor can open doors to some of the most sought after private AI companies globally. “We are delighted to be partnering with Grosvenor, who is the ideal manager to help us capture some of the vast wealth creation happening while these AI companies are still private.
“Many compelling AI and AI-related businesses remain private during their highest growth phases. By the time these companies reach public markets, a significant portion of their return potential may already have been captured by private investors. Investing in unlisted securities can provide earlier participation in that value creation.
“AIX will allow Australian investors to access these AI companies, seeking to deliver long-term capital growth by targeting investments in non-publicly traded companies that are developing, enabling, or contributing to the adoption of artificial intelligence and related technologies”, Pillemer said.
Some of the companies in AIX’s sights include Anthropic and OpenAI, which are both progressing with IPO plans. AIX also announced it has already contracted investments with ByteDance and Handshake.
Other target companies named by AIX include Shield AI, Waymo, Lambda, Crusoe, Databricks, and Perplexity.
The potential for explosive private market growth has been demonstrated by SpaceX, which has grown from a US$50 billion valuation in 2020 to the world’s largest private company, with expectations of a valuation around US$1.75 trillion for its impending IPO. SpaceX has been held by Pengana’s PE1 vehicle since 2020.
