Pengana launches AI private markets fund

Pengana Capital has launched an ASX-bound artificial intelligence investment vehicle, positioning itself to capitalise on early-mover advantage in the space.

The fund manager has unveiled plans to raise up to $350 million for a listed investment trust, to be called AIX, that would invest in the world’s largest and most influential private AI companies.

Reportedly a market first, the trust will invest in private companies developing, enabling or benefiting from AI technologies, from early-stage ventures to late-stage pre-IPO businesses such as Anthropic and OpenAI.

Pengana said institutional demand for the vehicle has been strong, with the cornerstone offer increased from $100 million to $150 million and fully subscribed. 

The updates come after Investor Daily reported on the trust’s impending launch last month.

AIX’s product disclosure statement was lodged on 2 June, with the public offer scheduled to open on 10 June and close on 19 June, ahead of an expected listing in early July.

According to the firm, AIX will operate as a self-liquiditating ASX listed trust structure, with investments managed by US-based global alternative asset manager GCM Grosvenor. 

Grosvenor also manages the Pengana Private Equity Trust, PE1, which gives Australian investors access to SpaceX ahead of its potential public listing. The rocket technology giant has been held by this vehicle since 2020.

Commenting on the launch, Pengana chief executive Russel Pillemer said the fund manager’s relationship with Grosvenor can open doors to some of the most sought after private AI companies in the world.

“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,” Pillemer said.

Alongside eyeing heavyweights such as Anthropic and OpenAI, AIX announced it has contracted investments with Chinese tech giant ByteDance and AI-powered jobs platform Handshake.

Other target companies named by AIX include Shield AI, Waymo, Lambda, Crusoe, Databricks, and Perplexity.

Pengana stated that 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 the second year, 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.