ETFs add Anthropic exposure through perpetual-futures swaps

A new group of ETFs is getting Anthropic exposure through total return swaps tied to perpetual futures markets, tracking the AI developer's pre-IPO price without holding its shares, according to ETF Trends. The structure sits alongside two routes already in use: direct private shares and preferred stock held inside special purpose vehicles.

KraneShares Public-Private AI & Technology ETF (AGIX) participated directly in Anthropic's private funding round in February 2025, ETF Trends reported. Tema Photonics & Optical ETF (LAZR) holds Anthropic Series F preferred shares through an SPV, a vehicle that holds private company shares on behalf of investors. The swap-based funds own no Anthropic shares; the report describes the swaps as a way to capture pre-IPO price trends without the underlying stock.

For advisors screening thematic AI funds, the practical question shifts from whether a fund owns Anthropic to what instrument carries the exposure: a private share position, preferred stock inside an SPV, or a total return swap. ETF Trends says the derivative route brings new risks and complexities, and that recent regulatory developments could accelerate its use across the industry. Two funds marketing the same AI theme can therefore hold two different instruments behind it.

Anthropic's Nov. 2 amended S-1 disclosed third-quarter revenue of $17.0 billion, up from $1.4 billion a year earlier, and an operating loss of $567 million. The same filing listed about $895 billion in future commitments, mainly for computing and infrastructure, a figure covered in earlier ETF Daily reporting on Anthropic's infrastructure commitments.

Direct shares become available only if the IPO proceeds. That would leave the swap and SPV routes tracking a stock investors could then buy outright, and put the question of structure — which instrument, marked how — in front of allocators who had treated Anthropic exposure as a single idea.

The swap funds are the newest of the three and the hardest to read off a holdings file, since the exposure is a derivative rather than a share line. ETF Trends frames the instruments as a way to offer exposure as investor interest in Anthropic's upcoming IPO grows.

The scarcity of pure-play AI in public equity is the demand driver the report identifies: most investors reach generative AI through megacap technology conglomerates or semiconductor suppliers, where AI is one part of a broader business. Anthropic, by contrast, is described as a targeted play on large language models and enterprise software.