- The Trust provides exposure to both established technology firms, and emerging sectors, such as cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, Zscaler and Zoom
- Over 2020, the Trust’s NAV returned 76.1% GBP, significantly outperforming the benchmark return of 41.7% GBP
- The Trust has become increasingly popular with advisers over the last ten years, with shares held by this group up 780% since 2010
Allianz Technology Trust has surpassed £1bn in assets, driven by strong demand from investors seeking positive returns from the technology sector and a continued period of outperformance of the portfolio. The Trust has witnessed consistent long-term growth, delivering NAV returns of 327% over five years.
In 2020 outperformance was driven by the Trust’s positions in companies behind what has been termed the ‘digital transformation’. This includes software companies, cybersecurity, workforce collaboration and mobile payments businesses which are benefiting from the shift to online. Top contributors in 2020 included Tesla, Zoom Video, Square and MongoDB, as well as cloud and cybersecurity businesses Zscaler and Crowdstrike.
The number of shares issued to investors via advisors has increased by 780% since 2010. Investors have been attracted to ATT in particular because of its consistent returns and dual focus on smaller high-growth companies, capturing growth without missing out on returns from some of the largest technology companies such as Apple and Microsoft.
Walter Price, Portfolio Manager, Allianz Technology Trust commented: “2020 was a year like no other. It accelerated longer-term trends we had seen in the market for some time. Globally, we are in a period of rapid change, where technology is key to the prosperity for all industries – from manufacturing to finance. Cloud companies, collaboration software companies, and those enabling efficient manufacturing processes – such as automation – are becoming critical infrastructure in our world.
In 2021, we expect these long-term trends to continue and we have positioned our portfolio accordingly. Specifically, these trends include:
- Collaboration in work and the work from anywhere culture.
- Businesses looking at increasing the efficiency of their manufacturing process, including automation and improved vision systems, and the electrification of vehicles.
- Companies turning to targeted online advertising and retail and payments to allow them to emerge from the crisis with stronger customer relationships.
We expect the companies who provide the ‘digital infrastructure’ behind these changes to benefit. As a result, we remain confident that this environment can offer attractive growth opportunities over the next ten years for investors.”
