Believe it or not, there are a handful of FTSE investment trusts that offer big exposure to SpaceX. Elon Musk’s pioneering rocket company is gearing up for a potentially record-breaking IPO this summer.
For those who can’t wait till SpaceX goes public, here are three investment trusts to consider buying today. All are managed by Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh-based investment firm that was invited to invest in SpaceX due to its patient, long-term backing of Tesla.
FTSE 100
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE:SMT) manages a global growth portfolio of 101 stocks. It aims to “find exceptional growth companies, whether public or private, wherever they are in the world, and hold them over the long term“.
Here are the top five holdings, with their respective weightings:
- SpaceX: 19.3%
- TSMC: 5.7%
- ByteDance: 4.7%
- MercadoLibre: 4%
- Stripe: 3.9%
In the past 10 years, Scottish Mortgage has generated an excellent annualised return of 17%. SpaceX has contributed towards that because the trust first invested in the rocket maker back in 2018 when it was valued at around $31bn.
With Elon Musk seeking a valuation as high as $2trn, this holding is set to generate enormous returns. It’s another massive winner that Scottish Mortgage can put in the trophy cabinet, alongside Nvidia, Tesla, ASML, and Spotify.
I consider Scottish Mortgage to be the least risky of these three trusts due to its global portfolio. It holds established European blue chips like Ferrari, Hermes, and Swedish industrial giant Atlas Copco.
That said, it wouldn’t be immune to a global economic slowdown, especially as it holds lots of e-commerce stocks, including Amazon, Shopify, MercadoLibre, Temu owner PDD Holdings, and Sea Limited.
FTSE 250
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (LSE:USA) from the FTSE 250 is similar to Scottish Mortgage, but it’s entirely focused on American businesses. It also has a higher 50% limit on private company exposure (Scottish Mortgage is currently 30%).
Due to being less geographically diversified then, it’s arguably higher risk. If there was a US government debt crisis, for example, global investors could quickly dump American equities.
On the other hand, the US remains a breeding ground for the world’s most innovative companies. So I expect this trust to continue doing well long term (it’s up over 200% since launch in 2018).
The top five holdings are:
- SpaceX: 14.9%
- Stripe: 8.5%
- Amazon: 4.4%
- Nvidia: 4.3%
- Meta Platforms: 3.8%
A FTSE 250 newcomer
Finally, there’s Schiehallion Fund (LSE:MNTN), which recently joined the FTSE 250. It takes its name from the mountain in Scotland, which has historical scientific significance as it was used to calculate the Earth’s mass in 1774.
The trust focuses on later-stage private growth companies, so I consider it higher risk. After all, unlisted valuations can be harder to get accurate while the firms are less established.
As such, Schiehallion can be incredibly volatile, especially when interest rates rise, as the share price chart shows.
The top five holdings are:
- Bending Spoons: 14.2%
- SpaceX: 12.8%
- ByteDance: 8.9%
- Databricks: 4.5%
- Stripe: 4.4%
Recent performance has been strong. In the 12 months to 31 January, the fund’s net asset value increased 32.6%. It could grow even more this year if the SpaceX IPO is successful.
Schiehallion says SpaceX “continues to exhibit arguably one of the strongest competitive advantages that we have ever seen“.
