North Carolina pension fund favors AI investments over SpaceX IPO

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NC pension prefers AI over SpaceX

Highlights

North Carolina pension fund, managing about $200 billion, avoided direct SpaceX investment due to concerns over limited upside at the $1.8 trillion IPO valuation.
The fund invested $40 million in OpenAI and committed $250 million to Anthropic, with the Anthropic stake now valued above $600 million.
North Carolina expects indirect SpaceX exposure post-IPO via index funds, favoring AI investments for a better risk-reward profile at current valuations.

Allocation strategy before SpaceX listing

As reported by CNBC, Briner says North Carolina has avoided a direct investment in SpaceX because the Elon Musk-led company’s valuation leaves limited room for additional upside for long-term retirement assets.

Briner, who oversees roughly $200 billion, says the state has been concerned for about the last year by pricing in SpaceX. He says the pension system is targeting a predictable high single-digit rate of return for retirees and must weigh valuation carefully when making investment decisions.

SpaceX is scheduled to price its IPO on Thursday and begin trading on Friday. The company plans to sell 555.6 million shares at $135 each, raising about $75 billion and valuing the aerospace group at roughly $1.8 trillion.

AI bets and portfolio implications

Instead of buying SpaceX shares in the private market, North Carolina has invested about $40 million in OpenAI and committed roughly $250 million to Anthropic earlier this year. Briner says the Anthropic stake is now worth more than $600 million, reflecting what he views as a stronger risk-reward profile than SpaceX at its current valuation.

He says the state identified Anthropic as mispriced earlier this year and points to the strength of the underlying technology as a reason for confidence. The positioning highlights a wider debate among institutional investors over whether SpaceX’s expected IPO valuation already captures much of the optimism around its leadership in rocket launches and satellite internet.

Briner says North Carolina still expects to gain exposure to SpaceX after the listing through index funds in its public equity portfolio, even though it does not hold the company on the private side.

Our earlier article on SpaceX’s planned IPO governance debate examined growing scrutiny of the company’s dual-class share structure and what it could mean for investor protections as SpaceX enters public markets. We noted that the governance setup could also complicate index inclusion and delay passive-fund inflows, an issue that matters for retirement funds likely to gain exposure after listing.

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