LONDON (Alliance News) - Allianz Technology Trust PLC on Friday said performance in its last financial year was boosted by holdings in online retail giant Amazon.com, security software company Palo Alto Networks, and digital streaming business Netflix, but the trust was hurt by its exposure to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
"Amazon.com is a current example of an off-benchmark stock. The stock is one of the largest holdings in the portfolio, and it was the most successful stock we owned in 2015," the trust said.
The trust's net asset value increased by 10.3% to 675.1p in the year ended November 30 November, from 612.2p as at the same stage the prior year. The benchmark index, the Dow Jones World Technology Index, managed a 3.3% increase over the same period. The trust's shares also outperformed the benchmark in the year, increasing to 632.0p from 576.5p.
The discount at which the shares traded to NAV per share widened slightly at the year-end to 6.4% compared with 5.8% one year earlier.
The trust said its longer term track record is more impressive. In the 10 years to November 30, on a cumulative basis, the company gained 185%, the Dow Jones World Technology Index gained 142%, and the FTSE All Share just 81%.
"Looking forward, we continue to believe the technology sector can provide some of the best absolute and relative return opportunities in the equity markets - especially for stock pickers who focus on the strength of company fundamentals," investment manager Allianz Global Investors said.
"We view security as another attractive secular growth area in technology. The increasing sophistication and persistence of cyberattacks has triggered more spending towards providers offering new security technologies. We believe this trend will continue for several years, and companies consistently enhancing security technology may stand to benefit over time," the investment manager added.
Shares in the trust were up 1.7% at 572.00p on Friday morning.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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Allianz Technology Trust (ATT)