US Growth: Anthropic reaches 9% of assets as Saba nears 30% of the votes

Two new figures sharpen the choice facing shareholders in Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust. Anthropic now represents 9.0% of its assets following a valuation adjustment announced on 23 September. Saba holds 29.51% of voting rights attached to shares, according to a filing published on 25 September. One figure measures economic concentration; the other, influence at a shareholder meeting. Neither tells us how shareholders will vote.

The same company creates two separate questions

US Growth is a UK-listed investment trust. It owns growth businesses, including some that do not trade on public markets. Anthropic develops the Claude artificial intelligence models. For a trust shareholder, the estimated value of that stake contributes to net asset value, or NAV, which is the value of assets after debt. The trust's own share price is set separately in the market.

The board announced an upward adjustment to Anthropic's valuation under the manager's private-company valuation policy. On 22 September, the position accounted for 9.0% of total assets, versus 6.8% on 31 August: a rise of 2.2 percentage points. That change in weight is not enough to calculate the holding's gain: the denominator and other assets may also have moved between those dates. The trust reported NAV of 397.57 pence per share at 22 September but did not give a bridge isolating Anthropic's effect in this announcement.

The uplift is not a cash receipt. Our comparison of US Growth and Scottish Mortgage explained that several private companies sit in both portfolios at different weights. Scottish Mortgage also raised Anthropic's valuation: its weight rose from 2.9% on 31 August to 3.9% on 22 September. That trust offers an economic comparison; it is not a party to US Growth's governance dispute with Saba.

What Saba actually controls

Saba Capital is challenging US Growth's board and seeking to change its directors. Our article on the proposed exit and October vote sets out the dispute. The latest TR-1 filing reports 81,671,496 voting shares, representing 29.513734% of voting rights attached to shares on 24 September. It separately reports a cash-settled total return swap representing 0.353213% of economic exposure. The combined disclosure is 29.866947%.

Saying that Saba holds 29.87% of actual share votes would conflate two lines of the form. Even 29.51% does not predict the result: turnout by other shareholders, proxies and the precise resolutions still matter.

What matters to a shareholder

A higher Anthropic valuation increases the weight of an asset that cannot necessarily be sold immediately. Saba is seeking more liquidity and a different board. The incumbent board says it had already offered an exit near NAV, which Saba rejected. There are two related but different issues: what price to put on private businesses today, and how to fund a cash exit without disadvantaging the shareholders who remain.

The new valuation makes the first issue more important for the trust. The filing confirms Saba's substantial influence over the second. That is the addition to our earlier coverage. These announcements alone settle neither Anthropic's fair value, the funding of a broad offer nor the 23 October vote.