Summary
- Danish pension fund AkademikerPension said it will exclude SpaceX from its investment universe.
- It said it will also stay out of the IPO, the secondary market and index funds, citing very weak governance performance under ESG metrics and its view that SpaceX is excessively overvalued.
- AkademikerPension said that, as a long-term investor, it is difficult to justify taking part in the SpaceX IPO from a returns standpoint.
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Danish pension fund AkademikerPension said it has excluded Elon Musk-led space company SpaceX from its investment universe.
Anders Schelde, AkademikerPension’s chief investment officer, told Bloomberg on May 29 that the fund will not invest in SpaceX. That means it will not participate in the company’s initial public offering or buy shares in the secondary market. The exclusion also applies to holdings through index funds.
The main reason is environmental, social and governance concerns. SpaceX performs very poorly on governance, Schelde said. As a long-term investor, AkademikerPension also views the company as excessively overvalued. From a returns perspective, he added, it is difficult to justify taking part in the IPO.
AkademikerPension manages about $25 billion in assets. Bloomberg said the Danish fund is small, but its investment decisions have often drawn attention. Last year, it sold its Tesla stake, citing concerns that Musk was destroying the automaker’s value and brand.
SpaceX, meanwhile, is pursuing an IPO at a valuation of at least $1.8 trillion.
