Scottish Mortgage Readies £250m Private Markets Push as SpaceX Stake Fuels Record Profit
27.05.2026 - 15:43:12 | boerse-global.de
The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has delivered a financial performance that underscores the scale of its bet on unlisted technology giants, posting a net profit of £3.1bn for the year to the end of March – more than double the figure from the prior period. The board has now given the green light for an additional £250m to be deployed into private-equity holdings, as chairman Christopher Samuel described the current opportunity set as a "once-in-a-generation shift" driven by artificial intelligence and space technology.
The trust’s net asset value per share surged to 1,315.8p, up from 1,037.0p a year earlier, producing a total NAV return of 27.4% that left the FTSE All-World Index far behind at 18.0%. Over a decade the outperformance is even more pronounced: the NAV has compounded at 435.2% against the index’s 233.9%, a demonstration of the concentrated long-term strategy that has become the trust’s hallmark.
SpaceX remains the largest single holding, accounting for roughly 19% of the portfolio. Since the initial stake was taken in December 2018, the value of that investment has multiplied twentyfold – a gain of 1,900%. The company successfully completed the 12th test flight of its Starship system this week, and speculation is mounting that a June initial public offering could value the rocket builder at between $1.75tn and $2tn. Managers Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns argue that access to world-leading private companies of this calibre is precisely why Scottish Mortgage allocates such a significant portion of its assets to unquoted equities.
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Beyond SpaceX, the portfolio is heavily weighted toward the infrastructure and application layers of artificial intelligence. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. accounts for 6.5% of assets, Nvidia 5.6%, ByteDance 4.8% and Amazon 4.0%. The managers describe a "once-in-a-lifetime transformation" in technology and have positioned the portfolio accordingly, channeling cash toward businesses that either provide the backbone for AI or are using it to disrupt entire industries.
Despite the focus on capital growth, Scottish Mortgage has not abandoned its proud dividend record. The board is proposing a 4.3% increase in the full-year distribution to 4.57p per share, marking the 43rd consecutive year of higher payouts. The final dividend of 2.97p is scheduled for payment on 10 July, subject to shareholder approval at the annual general meeting in Edinburgh on 2 July. Management acknowledges that many portfolio companies reinvest cash flows into expansion rather than returning them to investors, but the trust remains committed to a reliable, rising income stream.
The trust’s own shares have been trading in robust fashion. Having ended the financial year at a 9.5% discount to net asset value, the stock briefly moved to a premium in the weeks that followed. On 13 May, Scottish Mortgage issued 1 million shares from treasury at 1,429p each – a sign of sustained demand from investors. The shares now change hands at €17.95, up 29.3% since the start of the year and just 5% below the 52-week high of €18.85 struck earlier this week.
Net gearing stands at around 11%, with average financing costs of 3.6%, while the ongoing charges ratio remains low at 0.33%. The trust continues to embrace a degree of leverage to amplify returns from its highest-conviction bets, yet the managers insist that volatility is an accepted part of the journey. The strategy remains unchanged: hold a concentrated portfolio of exceptional companies through cycles, irrespective of geopolitical noise or interest-rate fluctuations.
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