Scottish Mortgage Ramps Up Buybacks While Seeking Shareholder Nod for Bigger Private Bets

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust seeks higher private asset cap, shifts buybacks to NAV-only. SpaceX IPO boosts unlisted holdings to 41.4%, while Anthropic IPO looms.

The month leading up to Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s annual general meeting has been anything but quiet. On 16 June, the trust bought back 2.325 million of its own shares in a single session — double the previous day’s tally — at an average price of 1,486.19 pence apiece. The rapid-fire repurchase underscores a deliberate shift in strategy: from now on, the trust will only buy back stock when it trades below net asset value (NAV). The old, more liberal support policy is gone.

The buyback spree is part of a broader recalibration. In the year through March 2026, Scottish Mortgage acquired roughly 122.9 million shares for £1.31 billion. Over the past two financial years, the total reached 307.7 million shares — equivalent to about 22% of the free float at the start of that period. Yet even as management flexes its buying muscle, it is asking shareholders to approve a significant expansion of its exposure to unlisted companies.

The AGM, set for 2 July in Edinburgh, features three critical votes. First, the board wants to raise the ceiling for private-market holdings beyond the current 30% of total assets. Second, it is seeking authorisation to buy back up to 14.99% of outstanding shares — but only when the price sits below NAV. Third, shareholders will vote on a final dividend of 2.97 pence per share, lifting the full-year payout by 4.3% to 4.57 pence, a move that extends Scottish Mortgage’s record as an AIC “Dividend Hero” with 43 consecutive annual increases.

The push to lift the private-asset cap comes at a moment when those holdings already exceed the old limit. The IPO of SpaceX, in which Scottish Mortgage holds a large stake, has blown the lid off. The rocket company placed 556 million shares at $135 each in history’s biggest float, and a first-day surge to around $161 inflated the trust’s portfolio weighting. Private assets now account for 41.4% of the book, up from 27.5% a year ago. SpaceX alone represents roughly 21% of total assets — well above the 30% threshold previously applied to all unlisted bets.

Another potential catalyst is waiting in the wings. Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI assistant, filed a confidential prospectus with the SEC on 1 June. Valued at around $965 billion after a $65 billion funding round, the company is not expected to list before October 2026. Scottish Mortgage holds the stock at a book value of about £400 million, equivalent to around 2.6% of the portfolio. A successful IPO would unlock further hidden gains.

Despite the jitters over interest rates — a strong US jobs report has pushed the implied probability of a Fed rate hike in December 2026 above 80% — some major investors are backing the trust’s playbook. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management crossed the 3% threshold in early June, now holding roughly 33.6 million shares, a signal of confidence in the strategy.

Still, the macro headwinds are real. A Bain & Company analysis cited by the trust highlights cracks in the private-credit market, pressure on software valuations, and a 70% plunge in technology deal volume between the fourth quarter of 2025 and early 2026. For a portfolio weighted toward unlisted growth companies, persistently high financing costs represent a calculated risk — one that shareholders will need to accept if the new policy passes.

In the run-up to the vote, the trust’s shares have been volatile. They touched €17.33 in early June before settling at €17.09 by mid-month, leaving the stock up 23% year-to-date but still about 12% below its all-time high from May 2026. The outcome on 2 July will determine whether management can keep doubling down on private-market wagers — or whether investors feel the trust has already pushed its bets far enough.