Anthropic’s IPO Filing Lifts Scottish Mortgage to Records, Testing Its Long-Hold Private-Equity Creed

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust shares hit all-time high of £15.63 after Anthropic's confidential SEC filing for a market debut, with the AI stake now worth £400 million.

The prospect of a market debut by Anthropic has already delivered tangible gains for Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. The London-listed shares punched through to a new all-time high of £15.63 on 2 June, eclipsing the previous peak of £15.29 set in November 2021, after the AI company filed a confidential registration draft with the SEC. That move followed an earlier surge that had pushed the euro-denominated price to around €18.40. Since the start of the year, the trust’s equity has climbed 30.85%, though the current euro price of €18.18 sits 6.79% below the 52-week high of €19.50.

Anthropic now occupies the tenth slot in Scottish Mortgage’s portfolio, representing 2.6% of total assets. The stake is estimated to be worth roughly £400 million. Baillie Gifford, the trust’s manager, first bought into the company in 2021 and has steadily added to the position. Last year’s Series H round – which raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation – underlined the scale of the bet. For a trust that has long held unlisted stakes in fast-growing technology businesses, an IPO promises to turn an opaque asset into a transparently priced one.

The trust’s investment philosophy, however, is built around patient ownership. Manager Tom Slater has stressed that Scottish Mortgage’s closed-end structure allows it to hold companies “through the transition and beyond” – meaning it has no obligation to sell once Anthropic lists. That conviction was reinforced by a policy change approved by shareholders in April, which grants the trust an exemption from its usual 30% cap on private holdings. Up to an additional £250 million can now be directed into unlisted companies, provided annual shareholder consent is obtained. The aim is to avoid missing follow-on investments in existing portfolio firms or new opportunities.

The strategy has produced strong recent numbers. For the fiscal year through March 2026, Scottish Mortgage reported a net asset value total return of 27.4%, while the share price rose 26.8%, comfortably outpacing the FTSE All-World Index. SpaceX was a notable contributor to the performance, alongside Anthropic’s valuation uplift. Institutional interest remains solid: Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management raised its voting rights stake to 3.02%, a further signal of confidence.

Behind the numbers, the trust’s managers see Anthropic as a pivotal part of the transition from narrow AI tools to more capable systems. This narrative has captured the market’s imagination, propelling the shares to records on the IPO news. The ongoing costs remain modest at around 0.33%, with no performance fees.

Yet the catalyst is still conditional. A registration filing does not guarantee an IPO, and any delay or withdrawal could revive the debate over how conservatively the market prices the trust’s private AI holdings. For now, the discount to the 52-week high is a manageable 6.8%, and the trust has a dividend record that has extended for 43 consecutive years – a reminder that Scottish Mortgage’s runway is designed to be long.