The space race investing gold rush comes to Britain – iNews

As billionairesfight it out to be king of the current space race, a parallelgold rush is taking place in the stock markets.Investors have spied an opportunity to send their money to the moon, andarebuying into the still relatively young space sector.And with Seraphim Capitals space investment fund blasting off onto the London Stock Exchangenextweek,interplanetary investments just got more accessible to UK investors.

Seraphim Space Investment Trust is targetingannualisednet asset value return of at least 20 per cent in the long term, through its stakes in space tech companies including British encryption companyArqitand satellite weather forecaster Spire Global.

Itsreally excitingtimes for the space sector in the UK, and its an exciting time for investors, says James Bruegger, chief investment officer of Seraphim.

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Theres athrivingtech ecosystem, and the UK punches above its weight in terms of the space sector.

He points to businesses likeArqit, which was founded in London in 2017 and isnowexpected to be valued at $1.4bn(1bn)atthe end of August, as an example of where the UK tech sector is producing its own major players.

Meanwhile, on the investor side, individuals are excited by the prospectputting their money into space. As a sci-fi nerd,I can sayit really is an inspirational area,MrBruegger says.Its one that captures the imagination,andits one that brings the best out of humanity.

The retail offering for the Seraphim trust closes on Friday,with a minimum investment of 1,000 at 1 a share. The trustwill launch onto the stock exchange on Wednesday.

The nature of the industry means the businesses it will invest in are small cap companies with less mature businesses so the risk profile will be higher than more established companies,saysSusannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

But the prospectus highlights huge potential in the $366bn(265.5bn)industry, as the race to space heats up, anda new eco-system is created for the new era ofdriverless cars, robotics, smart cities and the internet of things.

It comes hot on the heels of the Procure Space Ucits ETF, which launched onto the London market in June using the ticker symbol YODAand was the first space exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Europe.ETFs are different to investment trusts like Seraphim, as they invest in companies that are already publicly traded.

Procure already had another ETF listed in the US, wherea series of high-profilefundshave beencapitalisingon the strong interest in space generated byprojects like Elon Musks SpaceX, Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic,and Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin.

From a retail investorsperspectivewhats attractive about our IPO its allowing them to follow in thefootstepsof some of the biggestentrepreneurs in the world, saysMrBruegger of Seraphim.

He also pushes back on the idea that this may be a moment of hype.This isnt just the latest plaything for Bezos, Musk and Branson. Each of themhavebeen at their respective space projects for the best part of two decades all while building the businessestheyre more well-known for.

Thanks to the dramatically reduced costs of sending things into space, for whichMrBruegger partially credits Elon Musk, he says thisperiodcould be the beginning of a huge opportunity.

We see this as analogous to where the internet was in the late 90s.

Investing in space goes beyond the rockets themselves, and can also includesatellite companies, broadcasters, aerospace anddefenceplayers, andother businesses that are now or may in future be linked to the space boom.

ARKInvestsspace fund, run by well-known USfund manager Cathie Wood and her team, evenhas stakes in companies like Amazon and Netflix. Thats because the fund includes companies which are likely to benefit from the technological advances of space and aerospace innovation, which could include faster internet, drones, and air taxis.

Yet part of what gets people excited about the current iteration of space technologyis theromanticidea that we mightsoon be able to leave Earth with the same easewith whichwe can take an international flight.

Although the first space tourism trip took place in 2001, whenengineerDennis Tito paida reported $20m for just over a week orbiting the earth,the interest of deep-pocketed entrepreneurs in the sector has given it new life in recent years. Itwill take a step forward on Sunday,when Virgin Galactic is due to launchits firstfullymanned flightwithMrBranson himself on board.

The flight was the latest step in the companys mission ofrunning trips for paying passengers, many of whom have already paid $250,000 apiecefor their place. Meanwhile Blue Originwill launch its first human flight on 20 July, with founder Jeff Bezos and his brother on board, alongside invited guest Wally Funk and a mystery bidder whohas paid $28m for the privilege.

This is an inflection point, saysBen Laidler, global markets strategist at trading platformeToro. He expects to see the market grow in the next few years, and points to the amounts people are willing to pay to go into space.Theres definitely interest there.

Offering civilians holidays in space will only be one part of this pie, he says, with the technological advancements that can come out of space travel a huge part of why it might be attractive to investors.

What space has done is had a completely different impact on tech development, explainsMr Laider. He would expect to see all kinds of technology coming out of this latest wave in space exploration, and more companiesand investment vehiclescoming to market as a result.

The most important thing foraspiringinvestors right now, saysMr Laidler, isnot to put all their eggs in one basketnotleast because, withonly a handful ofspace-focused trusts and funds currently available,other options are bound to appear soon. Be diversified,if only for the fact that there will be more.

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The space race investing gold rush comes to Britain - iNews