Allianz Technology Trust: May 2026 update

• The trust invests in companies that use innovative technology to gain a competitive advantage in their industry.

• Michael Seidenberg took over as the trust's lead manager in July 2022, but has a lot of experience having been part of the team since 2009.

• Themes in the trust include artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, cybersecurity and quantum computing.

How it fits in a portfolio

Allianz Technology Trust aims to deliver long-term capital growth by investing in technology companies from around the world. The managers favour those that are innovating to gain a competitive advantage in their industry, addressing global trends or improving existing technology. They mainly invest in large and medium-sized technology companies but have the flexibility to invest in higher-risk smaller companies too.

Investing in the trust could help boost long-term growth potential but this is a specialist area so adds risk. We think funds and investment trusts investing in a specific sector should usually only form a small part of a well-diversified investment portfolio. Investors in investment trusts should be aware the trust can trade at a discount or premium to net asset value (NAV).

Manager

Michael Seidenberg became the trust’s lead manager in July 2022, having been part of the Global Technology team for around 17 years. He took over from Walter Price and Huachen Chen following their retirement. Seidenberg was recruited by Price in 2009, and worked closely with him from then onwards, so was a natural choice as successor to manage the trust.

Over his career, Seidenberg has gained a lot of experience across the technology industry. He began working in the software industry in 1996 and started his investing career with Citadel Investment Group in 2001. He's covered most technology sectors over his tenure.

When Price and Chen retired, the trust and wider technology team lost a lot of experience. They worked together for over 30 years covering every aspect of technology over that time.

That said, the team surrounding Seidenberg remains strong. The four team members supporting him on the trust have an average of 25 years’ experience, making it one of the most experienced teams in the industry. The team is based in San Francisco and benefits from being close to one of the world’s most important technology hubs.

In March 2024, Erik Swords was named co-manager. He has 26 years of experience and is the Global Head of Technology.

Process

Seidenberg applies the same tried and tested investment approach that has been used for many years. The team searches across the technology universe for high-quality companies they believe can benefit from major long-term trends. They prefer companies with strong management teams, healthy balance sheets and leading positions in their industries, alongside pricing power and the ability to deliver sustainable earnings growth over time.

The companies the team invest in typically fall into three broad categories:

• High growth innovators - emerging or transformative areas of tech, offering higher growth potential but higher risk.

• GARP (growth at a reasonable price) - established companies that have potential to grow but where the shares aren't overpriced.

• Cyclical growth - companies that are sensitive to economic conditions and could grow as the economy grows.

Around 86% of the trust is invested in technology companies based in the US, which is home to many of the world’s largest and most innovative technology businesses. While these companies are headquartered in the US, they operate and generate revenue globally, meaning their success is not solely dependent on the US economy.

The remainder of the trust is diversified across other regions, including higher risk emerging markets such as Taiwan and South Korea. Over the past financial year, the manager added exposure to China through investments in online marketplace Alibaba and media & services company Tencent. This was to increase diversification away from the US and reflects improving investor confidence in China.

The team invests across a wide range of technology sectors, including software, semiconductors, interactive media & services, and hardware. They also look for opportunities in less obvious areas where technology still plays a key role, such as communications and aerospace & defence.

The trust typically invests in 40-70 companies and had 47 holdings at the end of March 2026. Investing in a relatively small number of companies gives the potential for each to contribute significantly to performance but could increase risk. The top ten holdings made up 60% of the trust and included companies such as NVIDIA, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. This means they’re likely to have the greatest impact on performance.

During the year, the manager added some new investments to the trust, including Western Digital Corporation, a data storage hardware company, and SanDisk, which specialises in flash memory products. The trust’s holding in Amazon was sold as the manager believes there are other companies offering stronger growth prospects.

The trust has exposure to several themes that the manager believes will drive the technology market going forward. These include AI, robotics, cybersecurity and quantum computing.

The manager has the flexibility to use gearing which can magnify any gains or losses. Investors should be aware that if used, this will increase risk. Although they have this flexibility, to date, the managers have not seen the need to take on the additional risk.

Culture

The trust was formed in December 1995 and was relaunched with a new team at the helm in 2007 by AllianzGI. The board appointed AllianzGI to oversee the trust based on their experience and in-depth expertise of investment trust management. The management team has experience across the industry and is committed for the long term.

In July 2022, AllianzGI’s US investment operations was sold to Voya Investment Management. Seidenberg and the Allianz board members believe this is a positive partnership that will help bolster the available resources each team has access to. The culture is also similar to Allianz, so the transition has been relatively smooth.

As part of the partnership, Grassroots Research, which used to be a division within AllianzGI, is now owned by Voya. This remains an available resource for Seidenberg and his team to draw on for idea generation. Grassroots Research is a global network of journalists, field investigators and industry contacts that gather additional research. The network is able to talk to companies and industry experts, gaining valuable market insights for the team.

ESG integration

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have become increasingly prominent in recent years and form an important part of Allianz's DNA. The main area of focus is governance within technology companies, specifically the strength and makeup of the board. Allianz can hold the companies’ management teams to account but also help influence and improve their behaviours, which Allianz believes can lead to more sustainable long-term performance.

The managers of this trust are still able to draw on the ESG work of Allianz, which means they continue to benefit from having a separate ESG research team and are less reliant on third party data. They also now benefit from an increase in available ESG resource following the partnership with Voya. Having this increased resource should be beneficial.

Cost

The ongoing charge, over the trust's financial year to 31 December 2025, fell slightly to 0.62% compared to 0.64% the previous year. Investors should refer to the latest annual reports and accounts and Key Information Document for details of the risks and charging structure.

We recently made some changes to the amount clients pay to invest with us. Find out more about these changes

The annual charge to hold investment trusts in the HL ISA, SIPP or Fund & Share Account is 0.35% (capped at £150 p.a. in each account) and 0.25% in the HL Lifetime ISA (capped at £45 p.a.). There are no charges from HL to hold them within the HL Junior ISA. As investment trusts trade like shares, both a buy and sell instruction will be subject to the HL share dealing charges.

Performance

Over the long term the trust has performed well, rising by 943.40%* in share price terms over the ten years to the end of April 2026. Seidenberg has only been lead manager since July 2022, so the trust’s performance for most of this period can’t be solely attributed to him, though he’s been part of the team for around 17 years. Remember past performance is not a guide to the future.

Over the trust’s financial year to the end of December 2025, its NAV rose by 24.7%, outperforming its technology benchmark, while its share price rose by 25.8%. The difference reflects a narrowing of the discount (the difference between the price of the trust’s shares and the value of the underlying assets it owns) as investor demand improved and the trust bought back some of its own shares.

As at the trust’s financial year end, it was trading at a discount of 7.8%. This compares to a discount of 8.6% at the end of the previous financial year (31/12/2024). To put this into context, over the last ten years (to the end of April 2026) the trust has traded on an average month-end discount of 6.50%.

2025 was another strong year for the technology sector, with the continued growth of AI remaining a key theme. However, it was volatile at times, particularly in April around so‑called ‘Liberation Day’, when global markets fell sharply.

After several years in which a small number of giant US technology companies dominated market returns, performance broadened out across the sector. The managers prefer to invest in large and medium-sized companies where they believe they can add more value, and the trust’s investments in medium-sized companies made a meaningful contribution to performance over the financial year.

Semiconductors were another strong area for the trust. Holdings such as Micron Technology and Lam Research were significant contributors to returns.

In contrast, software detracted from performance. Atlassian, a software company specialising in collaboration tools, was the largest detractor. The manager sold the investment near the end of the financial year due to expectations of continued short‑term challenges for the software sector and less confidence in the company.

Investing less than the benchmark in very large companies such as Alphabet and NVIDIA detracted from performance compared to the trust’s technology benchmark.

N/A** Returns for the AIC Investment Trust – Technology & Technology Innovation sector are not available during this time due to when the sector was formed.