Want to Play Anthropic Before Its IPO? There's an ETF for That.

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BARRON'S

AI

Want to Play Anthropic Before Its IPO? There's an ETF for That.

By Paul R. La Monica

Updated Sept 23, 2026, 9:18 am EDT / Original Sept 23, 2026, 3:00 am EDT

Anthropic’s IPO has reportedly been pushed to November. There’s an ETF to play the company now. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg)

Anthropic will probably go public in a matter of weeks, but you’re antsy and ready to play the AI giant right now.

Here’s how: an exchange‑traded fund that targets stocks that can benefit from the company’s prolific spending.

The Anthropic AI Lab Ecosystem ETF from Harbor Capital Advisors launched in mid‑August. It’s an actively managed fund with big holdings in major chip companies like Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices, and Micron as well as hyperscalers Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft. In other words, the usual AI beneficiary suspects.

But the ETF also has significant weightings in Bitcoin miners such as TeraWulf, Hut 8 and Riot Platforms, which have all announced deals to lease data centers to Anthropic. The fund is up about 5% since it made its debut. It’s a backdoor way to cash in on the eventual Anthropic IPO, despite the fact that the offering is reportedly now being pushed to November.

Wall Street remains mostly enthusiastic about AI even though there has been more volatility as of late for tech stocks due to safety concerns and questions regarding the ultimate return on AI investments. Numerous fund companies have already filed to issue single‑stock leveraged ETFs for Anthropic that would begin trading shortly after the IPO.

Justin Menne, portfolio manager at Harbor, said in an interview with Barron’s that interest in AI isn’t close to peaking, despite some of the near‑term worries.

“This is a durable and sustainable theme,” Menne said, adding that “adoption is still very much on an upward projection.”

But given some of the questions about who will ultimately win the AI arms race, Menne said investing in multiple AI ecosystems is a safer strategy. Along those lines, the Anthropic ETF is one of five similar funds that all made its debut in mid‑August from Harbor. The company also has ETFs tied to the AI spending of Meta Platforms, Alphabet, newly public SpaceX and ChatGPT owner OpenAI, which is also expected to go public either later this year or in 2027.

There is some overlap in the holdings of the Meta AI Lab Ecosystem, Google DeepMind AI Lab Ecosystem, SpaceXAI Lab Ecosystem and OpenAI Lab Ecosystem ETFs. Nvidia, Oracle and Taiwan’s Quanta Computer are positions in several of the funds. But there is enough differentiation between the ETFs so they don’t look exactly the same.

Menne said investors seem to be most interested in the Anthropic fund so far. It’s still relatively small, with just $13.5 million in assets under management since it launched last month. But that is more than the other four AI ecosystem funds combined, with $10.4 million in total assets for the Meta, Google, SpaceX and OpenAI funds.

Harbor is also looking to capitalize on AI with another fund that just launched in late August. The Munificent Seven ETF, a play on the Magnificent Seven of tech fame, owns leading energy stocks that can help fuel the insatiable demand for electricity required by AI. The fund owns Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips, BP and Norway’s Equinor.

The Munificent Seven fund hasn’t lived up to its name just yet, falling about 2% since it began trading. That’s largely due to the decline in oil prices in recent days on hopes that Iran will soon reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

But the rocky start for the Munificent Seven ETF is a clear sign of why investors should be wary of these and other AI‑related funds. Thematic investing is inherently speculative given how concentrated the ETFs tend to be. The lack of diversification means little margin for error if investors suddenly sour on AI.

Most index funds are already overly exposed to tech. Owning even more ETFs that are inextricably tied to Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI leaders just piles on more risk.

Important Information

Performance data shown represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance is net of management fees and expenses and reflects reinvested dividends and distributions. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate and shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance shown. As of September 30, 2026, the standardized since-inception returns at NAV and Market Price were -1.20% and -0.96%, respectively, for the Anthropic AI Lab Ecosystem ETF (ANTW) (inception: 8/12/26), and -2.24% and -1.76%, respectively, for the Munificent Seven ETF (BBLS) (inception: 8/19/26). Current performance through the most recent month-end is available on the applicable Fund’s webpage. ANTW Fund Page | BBLS Fund Page

As of October 6, 2026, securities referenced in the article represented the following percentages of ANTW’s net assets: TeraWulf 8.7%, Alphabet 7.3%, Amazon 5.9%, Riot Platforms 5.7%, Broadcom 5.6%, Microsoft 5.2%, Micron Technology 4.4%, Hut 8 4.2%, and Advanced Micro Devices 3.8%. Harbor Capital

As of October 6, 2026, securities referenced in the article represented the following percentages of BBLS’s net assets: Chevron 7.4%, ExxonMobil 7.4%, Shell 5.1%, TotalEnergies 4.3%, ConocoPhillips 2.8%, BP 2.2%, and Equinor 1.8%. Holdings are subject to change. References to specific securities are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered recommendations to purchase or sell any security.

Investing involves risk, principal loss is possible. Unlike mutual funds, ETFs may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. Harbor ETFs are new and have limited operating history to judge.

ANTW: There is no guarantee the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Equity and foreign securities, particularly those in emerging markets, are subject to market volatility and political, regulatory, economic, and foreign currency risks that may cause the Fund’s value to decline. The Fund’s performance depends on the success, adoption, and growth of the company identified in the Fund’s name and companies most directly linked to that company’s artificial intelligence (“AI”) ecosystem. The Fund and such companies may be adversely affected by competition, technological disruption, cybersecurity incidents, supply chain constraints, regulation, reputational events, or shifts in market and investor sentiment. AI‑related companies face rapid technological change and evolving legal and regulatory scrutiny that could negatively impact their business, profitability, and market value. The Fund relies on third‑party data and quantitative models that may be inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, or ineffective, and such models may not perform as expected under all market conditions. American Depository Receipts (ADRs), Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), and private company investments involve additional risks, including heightened volatility, limited liquidity, reduced transparency, foreign currency exposure, and uncertain operating histories or valuations. Because the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer or a limited number of issuers, it may be more susceptible to risks associated with a particular economic, political, or regulatory event than a more diversified portfolio.

BBLS: There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved. Stock markets are volatile and equity values can decline significantly in response to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, and economic conditions. Investments in energy companies may be adversely affected by changes in energy prices, commodity price volatility, and economic, geopolitical, regulatory, and environmental developments, which may result in greater volatility than the broader market. Swap agreements involve counterparty, liquidity, leverage, and correlation risks and may not provide the desired exposure, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance and ability to achieve its investment objective. Investments in foreign issuers may be subject to greater political, economic, regulatory, currency, and market risks than investments in U.S. issuers. American Depository Receipts (ADRs) are subject to the risks of investing in foreign securities and may involve additional liquidity and operational risks. A non‑diversified Fund may be more susceptible to risks affecting a single issuer or event than a diversified portfolio. 

Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market. 

This information should not be considered as a recommendation to purchase or sell a particular security.  The holdings mentioned may change at any time and may not represent current or future investments.

The views expressed herein are those of Paul R. La Monica as of 9/23/2026 are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. Harbor and the author(s) disclaim any responsibility to update such views. The views expressed should not be relied upon as investment advice, an indication of trading intent, or a recommendation to purchase, sell, or hold any particular security. The discussion is general in nature and provided for informational purposes only. There is no guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Past performance does not guarantee future results. 

These are ecosystem ETFs, not direct shares of private AI labs. The funds invest in publicly traded companies Harbor identifies as closely connected to each lab ecosystem. Publicly traded companies such as Meta or Alphabet may be eligible based on the portfolio methodology; private labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI are not directly owned.

The Harbor AI Ecosystem Labs ETF suite are not affiliated with, connected to, or associated with the companies identified in their respective names and were not developed or created by, or sponsored, endorsed, or approved by, those companies.

Harbor Capital is not affiliated with Dow Jones, Barron’s.

Copyright© 2026 Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. All Rights Reserved.