Advisors report muted client demand for Anthropic IPO shares

Advisors at three firms report muted client demand for Anthropic's IPO, with one RIA co-founder estimating interest near 10% of clients versus about a quarter for SpaceX, WealthManagement.com reported Oct. 30.

Anthropic filed a Form S-1 with the SEC and plans to list on Nasdaq in November as ANT, according to WealthManagement.com. As Private Wealth Daily previously reported, the offering is expected to raise more than $100 billion at a potential valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion. WealthManagement.com said the SpaceX IPO was valued at $1.77 trillion and raised $85.7 billion. Anthropic's May Series H round had a $965 billion valuation. Separate coverage put the filing date at Oct. 26 and said trading could begin as soon as the week of Nov. 16.

Principals can use existing look-through exposure as a baseline before any direct IPO purchase to assess how much more Anthropic a client wants beyond what a fund lineup already delivers.

Analysis of 2026 13F filings found 850 RIAs and broker-dealers, 82% of them independent RIAs, holding ETFs with a pre-IPO stake. Among funds counted, CNEQ has the highest Anthropic weight at 2.46%, though most exposure is a byproduct of broad AI and tech funds with weights often under 1%. The look-through exposure is an estimate based on each fund's disclosed weight.

Erik Kratz, CIO at Chicago-based RIA Arena Private Wealth, and Brian Glenn, CIO at Madison, N.J.-based Premier Path Wealth Partners, said their firms have not seen a pick-up in interest. Travis Poodiack, co-founder of Keene, N.H.-based Birch Financial Group, said some clients asked, but less broadly than for SpaceX. He estimated about a quarter of the firm's clients asked about the SpaceX IPO, with some buying shares. Poodiack attributed the muted interest to the absence of an 'Elon effect' and a crowded field of pure AI companies. Glenn said clients may know Claude as a tool more than Anthropic and competing products such as Grok and Copilot dilute enthusiasm.

All three advisors give clients the same guidance on Anthropic: go slowly and be prepared to wait five to 10 years for a steady rise. WealthManagement.com reported that highly anticipated IPOs tend to follow a pattern, SpaceX included, of an early pop in the first days after listing followed by a decline.