The Allianz Technology trust announced that Humphrey Van der Klugt will leave his board position after nine years following the annual general meeting on 24 April, with Elisabeth Scott retiring from the board in 2025, according to its full-year results.
Despite increasing its NAV by 46.4% and the share price by 44.5% over the past year, the trust still traded at an average 12.1% discount.
Chairman Tim Scholefield said: “In my view this reflects the interest rate uncertainty apparent for much of the year together with sentiment towards investment trusts in general.
“That latter point is evidenced by the average discount for investment trusts reaching levels not seen since the global financial crisis in 2008.”
In the financial year, Scholefield said the trust bought back £40.2m in shares, and purchased another £10.6m since the end of the fiscal year to 12 March.
Schofield also noted there would be no dividend pay out, saying that it was “unlikely that any dividend will be declared in the near future” due to the nature of the investments.
The Allianz Technology trust has also appointed Voya’s head of global technology Erik Swords to portfolio manager, working alongside lead portfolio manager Mike Seidenberg as of 1 March.
“It is relatively difficult to make predictions for the year ahead in such an uncertain world. However, most indicators are suggesting a pivot in interest rates could well be on the cards which would certainly be positive for growth stocks, including many technology stocks,” Scholefield said.
“Even if this does not provide a tailwind, it should at least remove a headwind as the discount rate used to value future cashflows of companies reduces. With valuations of many technology companies having come back to more reasonable levels since the end of 2020, this could allow some further recovery in the sector.”
