An investment in Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares has paid off handsomely for the Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX: PE1), which said this week that the value of its investments was set to jump 18% month on month following the technology company's share market listing.
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Making bets on artificial intelligence
SpaceX is the trust's single largest holding, with the trust also holding stakes in artificial intelligence giants Anthropic and OpenAI.
The trust said in a statement to the ASX this week that the value of its SpaceX shares had increased materially.
It said further:
Based on SpaceX's closing price of US$191.82 on 17 June 2026, and a conservative estimate of the impact of applicable fees and costs, Pengana estimates that the net contribution to PE1's net asset value (NAV) attributable to its SpaceX exposure, relative to the valuation utilised in the NAV released on 31 May 2026, is approximately US$55 million. This translates to approximately AU$79 million at an AUD/USD exchange rate of 0.70. This estimate would represent an increase of approximately 18% in PE1's NAV as at 31 May 2026, and an implied increase in NAV per Unit of approximately AU$0.29.
SpaceX shares, which were priced at US$135 apiece in the company's initial public offering, have traded as high as US$225.64 over the past week, before settling back to US$185 at the close overnight in the US.
Pengana said in its most recent market update in May that it was increasing its AI exposure.
It said:
We increased our exposure to Anthropic by participating in the company's latest financing round. As of May 2026, the leading enterprise AI company's annual recurring revenue is approaching approximately US$50 billion, ahead of its original year-end 2026 target of approximately US$30 billion. In our view, the company remains one of the most compelling ways to participate in the continued buildout of enterprise AI.
Pengana's second-largest holding is in wealth management solutions company Osaic, with that company undergoing a recapitalisation.
Penaga said as part of this process, it "received nearly 150% of our funded capital back while maintaining a majority of our investment in Osaic''.
It also made a new investment in commercial flooring installation and maintenance company Diverzify, and a credit investment in Lifeways, the largest provider of specialist supported living services and the second-largest provider of adult specialist care in the UK.
The Pengana Private Equity Trust targets a distribution yield of 4%.
The Trust's shares were changing hands for $1.69 on Friday, up 2.7%.
