Cathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund Owns Anthropic and SpaceX. Here's What Retail Investors Are Actually Paying For.

SpaceX and Anthropic are two of the most anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs) in quite a while. They're also coming much sooner than many people would have anticipated just a year ago.

With the surge in popularity (and perceived valuations), many investors have been looking for ways to gain exposure to these companies before they go public. One popular choice has been to invest in Cathie Wood's ARK Venture Fund (NASDAQMUTFUND: ARKVX), which owns stakes in both companies.

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What is the ARK Venture Fund comprised of?

The ARK Venture Fund invests in both private and public companies that fit its theme of disruptive innovation -- essentially, companies that are building technology products or services that change how we live. It's an actively managed fund, so the number of holdings changes much more frequently than exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that mirror indexes. Here are its top 10 holdings:

Data source: Ark Invest. Percentages as of May 31.

The figures will change after SpaceX's IPO on June 12, but today, about 80% of the fund's holdings are in privately held companies, so it's more like a venture capital fund than a standard ETF. It can operate this was because it's an interval fund, which differs from an ETF.

Unlike an ETF, interval funds don't trade on a secondary stock exchange, like the New York Stock Exchange. To invest in the ARK Venture Fund, you'll need to have an account with one of Ark Invest's partner platforms (such as SoFi) and $500.

On the one hand, interval funds help provide everyday investors with access to late-stage start-ups that would typically be off-limits to them. On the other hand, investing in these funds can be riskier because they're illiquid. You can't just sell your shares at any given moment like with a stock or ETF; to get out, you have to wait until the fund opens its quarterly window, during which it will buy back a limited fraction (between 5% and 25%) of its outstanding shares, if investors want to sell them.

Investing in the fund isn't cheap

Like many actively managed funds, the ARK Venture Fund charges hefty fees. Its management fee is 2.75%, service fee is 0.15%, and "other expenses and interest payments" are 0.59% (though that last category is currently offset by an expense reimbursement and fee waiver that Ark has the option of terminating with 60 days' notice).

At an annual expense ratio of 2.90%, that'll cost you $29 per year per $1,000 invested. That's a level that can really eat into your total returns over time. Moreover, many ETFs charge considerably less: For perspective, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has an expense ratio of only 0.03%, or $0.30 per $1,000 invested.

Investing in the ARK Venture Fund is an expensive way to gain exposure to SpaceX and Anthropic, and probably isn't worth it for most investors.

Stefon Walters has positions in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.