Allianz Technology Trust

This trust seeks long-term capital growth by scouring the globe to build a diversified portfolio of technology stocks. The management team focuses on themes that are addressing major growth trends that can replace existing technology or change how products and services are being made available to consumers. The result is a high-conviction portfolio of 40-70 names.

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Our Opinion
Fund Manager
Investment Board
Key Facts
Fund Performance
Risk
Company Description
Talking Factsheet
Investment process
ESG
Gearing
Discount/Premium

Our Opinion

This trust has been an exceptional long-term performer, backed by a rock-solid investment process focused on bottom-up stock selection but with a top-down macroeconomic overview. The team have been able to consistently find winners at a time when the technology sector has spearheaded growth in markets. They have also been able to manage risk effectively by building a diversified portfolio which should offer some stability in what can be a volatile sector. With the management team based in close proximity to Silicon Valley, the team are also in the thick of the action, giving them an edge over their peers. They also have great access to management teams, suppliers and competitors to gauge a strong overview of various sub-themes within the technology sector.

Fund Manager

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Fund Manager

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Michael Seidenberg, Fund manager Michael Seidenberg is a senior portfolio manager for the global technology strategies and an equity analyst on the fundamental thematic team at Voya Investment Management. He joined the firm following Voya’s acquisition of Allianz Global Investors US business, where he was a portfolio manager, analyst and director on the US global technology team. Prior to that, he worked at a number of hedge funds, including Pequot Capital, Andor Capital and Citadel Investment Group. He also worked in the software industry and at Oracle Corporation. Michael earned a BS in business administration from the University of Colorado and an MBA with concentrations in finance and accounting from Columbia Business School. Michael is joined on the trust by co-portfolio manager Erik Swords, and analysts Danny Su, Justin Summer and John Coyle

Michael Seidenberg, Fund manager Michael Seidenberg is a senior portfolio manager for the global technology strategies and an equity analyst on the fundamental thematic team at Voya Investment Management. He joined the firm following Voya’s acquisition of Allianz Global Investors US business, where he was a portfolio manager, analyst and director on the US global technology team. Prior to that, he worked at a number of hedge funds, including Pequot Capital, Andor Capital and Citadel Investment Group. He also worked in the software industry and at Oracle Corporation. Michael earned a BS in business administration from the University of Colorado and an MBA with concentrations in finance and accounting from Columbia Business School. Michael is joined on the trust by co-portfolio manager Erik Swords, and analysts Danny Su, Justin Summer and John Coyle

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Investment Board

The five-strong board is chaired by Tim Scholefield. Tim joined the board in December 2021 and was appointed chairman in April 2023. He is a non-executive director of CT UK Capital and Income Investment Trust PLC, abrdn UK Smaller Growth Companies plc and Jupiter Unit Trust Managers Ltd. He is also chairman of Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited. He has over thirty years’ experience in investment management and was, until 2014, head of equities at Baring Asset Management. Prior to Baring, he was head of international equities at Scottish Widow Investment Partnership Limited.

Tim is joined on the board by Neeta Patel CBE, Katya Thomson, Simon Davis and Lucy Costa Duarte.

Key Facts

Asset type Equity

Annual Income (Historic) -

Sector Technology & Technology Innovation

Gearing-

Fund Size-

Fund Manager Start Date 21 July 2022

Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) -

Share price discount or premium -

Fund Performance

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Risk

Although the technology sector tends to be more volatile than the broader market, the team do try to mitigate risk through diversification, stock sizing and sector positioning. The focus on technology means the trust is strongly biased towards growth. Risk is monitored on a daily basis by the investment team, combined with independent firm-wide analysis & oversight.

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Company Description

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) is an investment division of Allianz Asset Management AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz SE, one of the world’s largest financial services providers. AllianzGI employs over 700 investment professionals in 23 offices worldwide and manages GBP 556 billion in assets for a mixture of both retail and institutional clients, across equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternative investments. Fixed income is the largest portion, accounting for about £180bn of assets under management. The management team work for Voya Investment Management, a San Francisco-based technology specialist, having moved from AGI in July 2022. They continue to manage the portfolio to the same strategy. Voya IM managed over £15bn in technology and thematic offerings. The managers’ continue to have access to Allianz’s investigative research reports to provide insights to the team.

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Fund Performance

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Risk

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Although the technology sector tends to be more volatile than the broader market, the team do try to mitigate risk through diversification, stock sizing and sector positioning. The focus on technology means the trust is strongly biased towards growth. Risk is monitored on a daily basis by the investment team, combined with independent firm-wide analysis & oversight.

Company Description

Close

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) is an investment division of Allianz Asset Management AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz SE, one of the world’s largest financial services providers. AllianzGI employs over 700 investment professionals in 23 offices worldwide and manages GBP 556 billion in assets for a mixture of both retail and institutional clients, across equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternative investments. Fixed income is the largest portion, accounting for about £180bn of assets under management. The management team work for Voya Investment Management, a San Francisco-based technology specialist, having moved from AGI in July 2022. They continue to manage the portfolio to the same strategy. Voya IM managed over £15bn in technology and thematic offerings. The managers’ continue to have access to Allianz’s investigative research reports to provide insights to the team.

Talking Factsheet

Talking Factsheet

Allianz Technology Trust

Mike Seidenberg

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Investment process

The trust uses bottom-up stock selection – but with a top-down macroeconomic overview – to build a portfolio of 40-70 stocks. As mentioned, the team are based in close proximity to Silicon Valley and have great access to management teams and have a wider network to lean into for opportunities.

The first stage of the process covers idea generation. Here the team identify major trends via internal research, conferences, company management, sell-side and Allianz’s own Grassroots Research investigative reports, which are often contracted out to third parties to generate insights into various areas of the market. The managers will look to build as wide a picture of the company and the sub-sector as possible by talking to suppliers, customers and competitors

The team are seeking to identify companies with sustained earnings growth, a strong market position with barriers to entry, strong balance sheets and high-quality management.

Portfolio construction is where the team seek diversification by offering exposure to numerous themes, such as AI, cyber security and software. They do not want to have an over-reliance on one specific theme as this could be harmful in a sector which can have periods of significant volatility.

The majority of the portfolio will typically be held in large ($30-200bn) and mega-cap ($200bn+) stocks, although it can invest in mid and small-caps. The trust has the majority of its assets invested in US companies, although many of them derive their revenues on a global scale.

Risk

Although the technology sector tends to be more volatile than the broader market, the team do try to mitigate risk through diversification, stock sizing and sector positioning. The focus on technology means the trust is strongly biased towards growth. Risk is monitored on a daily basis by the investment team, combined with independent firm-wide analysis & oversight.

ESG

Allianz Global Investors has a policy of putting ESG at the core of investment thinking. It treats ESG issues as a source of potential risk, and therefore focuses on identifying them through a variety of sources to assess whether that risk could impact the investment case. This work is conducted through a proprietary ESG Risk Signal system. It uses third-party data initially, before being built on internally to identify potential concerns. These concerns are given to managers and analysts who then review and discuss potential risks.

Voya Investment Management also has its own processes for ESG integration. These include a fundamental analysis which includes engaging in dialogue with companies, as well as each analyst providing their own insight and the creation of an ESG scorecard. Quantitative analysis researches systematic ways to generate alpha, including ESG-related signals. The team are also active owners through engagement and proxy voting with a view to improving the long-term sustainability of companies.

Gearing

The trust does not use gearing and has no debt facilities. This is because both the board and managers acknowledge the sector can be more volatile than the broader market.

Discount/Premium

The trust has typically traded at a discount over the past five years (averaging at 8.1%)*. This has varied in that time between a 6.6% premium and a 20.4% discount. The trust has a buyback facility in place at 7% and will discuss the potential for buybacks with its broker should it pass this level.

*as at 7 May 2025

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