The SpaceX IPO is scheduled to debut on Friday, June 12, on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker SPCX. Priced at $135 per share, the offering is expected to raise roughly $75 billion and imply a valuation somewhere between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion. If those figures hold, it would easily rank among the largest public market debuts ever.
I’m not here to debate whether SpaceX deserves a valuation that high. Markets will ultimately decide that. What investors may not realize, however, is that it has actually been possible to gain exposure to SpaceX for years before any IPO became reality. That exposure came through a handful of ETFs,
It is not common knowledge, but ETFs operating under SEC Rule 22e-4 can allocate up to 15% of assets to illiquid investments. That includes privately held companies such as SpaceX. Several ETF issuers have taken advantage of that flexibility. The catch is that not all SpaceX exposure is created equal.
The Two Ways ETFs Can Get Exposure to SpaceX
The first example is the ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF (XOVR). The majority of this ETF tracks the ER30TR Index, a portfolio of 30 innovative companies concentrated largely in the technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services sectors. The headline attraction is its 13.2% allocation to SpaceX.
The fine print is that these are not direct SpaceX shares. Instead, XOVR obtains exposure through a special purpose vehicle, or SPV. An SPV is a separate legal entity created to hold private company shares on behalf of investors. The ETF owns interests in the SPV rather than owning the underlying SpaceX shares directly.
That distinction matters because it introduces another layer between you and the actual company. Think of it as an additional middleman. While SPVs can provide access to otherwise inaccessible investments, they also add complexity, valuation uncertainty, and operational risk.
Despite that structure, XOVR has attracted roughly $411 million in assets under management, although investors pay a fairly steep 0.75% expense ratio.
If you’re not a fan of SPVs, and personally I’m not, a more interesting alternative may be the KraneShares Artificial General Intelligence & Technology ETF (AGIX) Most of AGIX tracks the Solactive Etna Artificial General Intelligence Index. Roughly 80% of the portfolio consists of publicly traded technology companies, including many members of the Magnificent Seven.
The difference is that AGIX also allocates to a basket of private investments. Currently, that includes a 1.46% position in a SpaceX SPV, a separate 0.76% position in SpaceX Class A common shares held directly, and a 1.02% allocation to Anthropic PBC.
AGIX has grown rapidly and now manages more than $1 billion in assets. The tradeoff is an even higher expense ratio of 0.99%.
Should You Buy These ETFs for SpaceX Exposure?
If your primary goal is owning SpaceX, I would simply wait for the IPO and buy the stock directly. Both XOVR and AGIX are diversified thematic funds first and SpaceX vehicles second. Even in XOVR, where the allocation is relatively large, most of your investment is still tied to a broader basket of public equities.
That does not make these funds bad products. If your goal is gaining exposure to innovative technology companies with some private market participation layered on top, they can serve that purpose reasonably well. The bigger concern is complexity.
Private company valuations are inherently harder to determine than public stocks. SPVs introduce additional layers of legal and operational structure. Investors are effectively relying on multiple intermediaries to maintain accurate valuations and provide access to assets that do not trade openly on an exchange.
For investors who simply want SpaceX exposure, buying the stock directly after the IPO may be the cleaner and cheaper solution. For investors seeking broader exposure to public and private technology companies, these ETFs may have a role, but the higher fees and additional complexity deserve careful consideration.
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