Pengana sees ‘strong demand’ for AI-focused LIT
As featured in the Money Management. View the original article here.
Pengana has completed the capital raising for its AI Private Opportunities listed investment trust, having targeted up to $350 million.
At the start of this month, the fund manager stated its intention to raise up to $350 million for the ASX-listed AI Private Opportunities Trust which is known as AIX. This invests 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.
In an ASX statement on 25 June, Pengana said it had raised $267 million for the trust at the completion of fundraising.
The cornerstone offer was increased from $100 million to $150 million and fully subscribed with Pengana saying it had seen “strong demand” across cornerstone, brokers and general offer channels.
Commenting on the AIX launch, Pengana chief executive Russel Pillemer, said: “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.”
The trust will be managed by US-based global alternative asset manager GCM Grosvenor which also manages the Pengana Private Equity Trust (PE1). PE1 has hit the news in recent weeks due to its holding in SpaceX which held its IPO on the Nasdaq earlier this month with the fund manager estimating the company’s market debut could lift the trust’s net asset value (NAV) by approximately 18 per cent.
SpaceX’s listing was expected to contribute approximately US$55 million to the trust’s NAV relative to the valuation used in its 31 May 2026 calculation.
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.
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