SpaceX stake worth 14% of assets
Pre-IPO access captures value before public markets drive shares higher.
Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust: Baillie Gifford's EWI: Own SpaceX pre-IPO plus tomorrow's disruptors at a discount
Global small-cap trust backing emerging tech winners like SpaceX and PsiQuantum. Discount narrows as portfolio shifts toward proven cash generators.
Updated: Dec 12, 2025
Financials & Real Estate
Bull & Bear Case
An overview of the main reasons to invest and the key risks involved.
Bull Case
Discount offers double-upside as reset takes hold
Discount narrowed from 20% to 4% as portfolio quality improved, creating upside from both asset growth and potential further re-rating.
35% private holdings concentration
Early entry into breakthrough tech before competition inflates valuations.
Bear Case
Private holdings lack transparency
Unlisted stakes can't exit quickly if internal valuations prove too optimistic.
Discount widens on underperformance
Risk-off sentiment or weak stock picks could push discount past 25% again.
Early-stage binary outcomes
Unproven companies may never commercialize; one major failure erases multiple winners.
Investment Thesis
Overview of buy and sell case of the business.
Why Invest?
Key pieces of information about the business that you need to know about.
SpaceX stake worth 14% of assets
Edinburgh Worldwide holds one of the few publicly accessible routes into SpaceX, the world's leading private space company, plus PsiQuantum (7.4% of assets), a quantum computing pioneer. These pre-IPO positions offer exposure to breakthrough technologies years before retail investors can buy them on exchanges, capturing value creation during the highest-growth phase.
Discount offers double‑upside as reset takes hold
The trust used to trade at a 20% discount, meaning you could buy £1 of assets for 80p. That discount has now shrunk to around 4% as the managers sold riskier bets and bought more profitable companies. This shift creates two potential gains: the portfolio itself can grow in value, and the discount could narrow further or even flip to a premium as investors gain confidence in the strategy. You're essentially getting paid twice if both the holdings perform and the market re-rates the trust.
Private holdings deliver 35% of portfolio concentration
Unlike typical small-cap funds stuck in public markets, Edinburgh Worldwide allocates a third of assets to unlisted companies where competition for deals is lower and pricing less efficient. As AI infrastructure, quantum computing, and clean energy mature from lab to commercialization, this early access positions the trust ahead of the crowd chasing later-stage momentum.
Catalysts
The key events that could drive investment opportunities and shift markets.
SpaceX IPO announcement for mid-to-late 2026: Multiple reports confirmed Elon Musk's SpaceX is targeting a June-July 2026 IPO at a $1.5 trillion valuation, raising over $30 billion. Any formal announcement or secondary market trades ahead of the listing would immediately re-mark Edinburgh Worldwide's 13.8% holding higher.
PsiQuantum commercial quantum computer delivery: The company aims to build the first utility-scale quantum system. Hitting technical milestones or securing major enterprise contracts would validate the 7.4% holding and prove quantum computing is moving from research to revenue.
AI infrastructure buildout accelerates private market dominance: As governments and enterprises pour capital into quantum computing, space infrastructure, and energy storage, early-stage specialists like Edinburgh Worldwide capture disproportionate returns before these sectors hit mainstream indexes.
Key Risks
Key pieces of information about the business risks that you need to know about.
Private holdings lack pricing transparency
A third of the portfolio sits in unlisted companies valued by internal models, not market trades. If SpaceX or PsiQuantum stumble, missing technical milestones or burning through capital faster than expected, the trust can't exit quickly, and NAV could drop sharply before investors realize the damage. Private valuations often lag reality by quarters.
Early-stage bets deliver binary outcomes
The trust backs unproven companies building technologies that may never reach commercial scale. Quantum computing could take another decade to monetize; clean energy ventures like Northvolt face execution and funding risks. One failed IPO or down-round in a top-10 holding could wipe out years of gains elsewhere in the portfolio.
Discount widens when growth slows
Investment trusts trade at discounts when investor confidence fades. If the portfolio underperforms again, either through poor stock selection or a broader market rotation away from speculative growth, the discount could balloon back past 25%, erasing any NAV gains. Small-cap innovation funds are first to sell off when risk appetite drops.