Polar Capital Technology Trust plc
Annual Report & Financial Statements
For the year ended 30 April 2026
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 30 April 2026
Contents
Purpose
The purpose of the Company is to provide a vehicle in
which investment is spread across a diversified portfolio
of technology companies which aim to deliver long term
capital growth to Shareholders. The purpose is achieved
through the Investment Objective and by applying the
investment policy incorporating parameters to ensure
excessive risk is not undertaken.
Investment Objective
The Investment Objective is to maximise long-term capital
growth through investing in a diversified portfolio of
technology companies around the world. The investment
policy and investment guidelines are set out in full in the
Strategic Report on pages 50 to 51.
Management structure
The Company is an investment trust led by an experienced
Board of Independent non-executive Directors with extensive
knowledge of investment matters, and the regulatory and
legal framework within which your Company operates. The
role of the Board is to provide oversight of the Company’s
activities and to seek to ensure that the appropriate financial
resources and controls are in place to deliver the Investment
Objective and manage the risks associated with such
activities. The Directors have appointed various third-party
suppliers to provide a range of services including investment
management, depositary and administrative services to the
Company.
Polar Capital LLP has been the appointed Investment
Manager and AIFM throughout the year. Ben Rogoff, the
appointed portfolio manager, has been responsible for the
Company’s portfolio since 1 May 2006 and is supported
by Deputy Fund Manager, Alastair Unwin and a team of
technology specialists. Polar Capital LLP is authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Our Business at a Glance
* These narrative statements form part of the Strategic
Report section as required under The Companies Act 2006.
–
This report forms part of the Report of the Directors.
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Overview
Our Business at a Glance IFC
Financial Highlights 1
Performance 3
Chair’s Statement*
(including Financial Performance Review) 4
Board of Directors 8
Technology Investment Team 10
Manager’s Report
Investment Manager’s Report* 14
Performance Attribution 33
Portfolio Positioning 34
Portfolio Review 35
Environmental, Social and
Governance Report (ESG)
ESG – Corporate Perspective* 42
ESG – Investment Perspective* 44
ESG Dashboard 46
Corporate Governance
Strategic Report* 50
Section 172 Statement* 61
Report of the Directors 66
Report on Corporate Governance
~
68
Audit Committee Report 75
Directors’ Remuneration Report 80
Report of the Nomination Committee 85
Management Engagement Committee Report 87
Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities 88
KPMG LLP’s Independent Auditor’s Report 89
Financial Statements
Statement of Comprehensive Income 100
Statement of Changes in Equity 101
Balance Sheet 102
Cash Flow Statement 103
Notes to the Financial Statements 104
Shareholder Information
Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) 130
Glossary of Terms 132
Corporate Information – AGM 135
Corporate Information – Other 137
Contact Information IBC
1
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Financial Highlights
2025: +3.1%
Net Asset Value (NAV) Per
Ordinary Share Total Return
1
Benchmark Total Return
2
Share Price Total Return
1
2025: +5.1% 2025: -1.2%
Year ended 30 April 2026
+102.2% +55.0% +109.0%
AGM Information:
5 October 2026 2:30pm
Please refer to the Notice of AGM
available on our website.
2025: £3,804,889,000
Shareholders’ funds NAV Per Ordinary Share Price per Ordinary Share
2025: 325.20p 2025: 288.50p
£7,324,872,000
657.41p 603.00p
Key Contents
Chair’s Statement
4
Investment Manager’s Report
14
Audit Committee Report
75
Financial Statements
100
Information for Shareholders
135
1 Alternative Performance Measure, see pages 130 to 131.
2 Dow Jones Global Technology Index (total return, Sterling adjusted, with the removal of relevant withholding taxes). See page 132 for further details.
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
2
Financial Summary
As at
30 April 2026
Change %
As at
30 April 2025
Year Ended
2026
Year Ended
2025
Total net assets £7,324,872,000 £3,804,889,000 92.5% 0.01%
Net Asset Value (NAV) per ordinary share 657.41p 325.20p 102.2% 3.1%
Benchmark
1
8153.98 5259.96 55.0% 5.1%
Price per ordinary share 603.00p 288.50p 109.0% (1.2%)
Discount of ordinary share price to the
NAV per ordinary share
2
(8.3%) (11.3%)
Ordinary shares in issue
3
1,114,203,196 1,170,007,019 (4.8%) (3.0%)
Ordinary shares held in treasury
3
258,946,804 203,142,981 27.5% 21.7%
Key Data
For the year to 30 April 2026
Local
Currency
%
Sterling
Adjusted
%
Benchmark
1
Dow Jones Global Technology Index (TR) 57.7 55.0
Other Indices over the year (total return)
FTSE World 33.2 31.0
FTSE All-Share 25.2
S&P 500 Composite 31.1 28.8
Nikkei 225 67.4 49.9
Eurostoxx 600 19.8 21.6
Exchange Rates
As at 30 April 2026 2025
US$ to £ 1.3589 1.3357
Japanese Yen to £ 212.94 190.52
Euro to £ 1.1584 1.1750
Expenses
For the year to 30 April 2026 2025
Ongoing charges ratio
2
0.69% 0.77%
Data supplied by Polar Capital LLP and HSBC Securities Services.
1 Dow Jones Global Technology Index (total return, Sterling adjusted, with the removal of relevant withholding taxes). See page 132 for further details.
2 Alternative Performance Measure see pages 130 to 131.
3 The issued share capital as at close of business 2 July 2026 (latest practicable date) was 1,373,150,000 ordinary shares of which 265,998,780 were held in
treasury.
Financial Highlights continued
3
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
As at 30 April 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Net Assets (£m) 801.3 1,252.5 1,551.6 1,935.6 2,308.6 3,408.8 3,051.0 2,828.1 3,804.5 3,804.9 7,324.9
Share price (pence) 56.6 94.7 114.8 135.4 177.4 236.4 204.0 194.0 292.0 288.5 603.0
NAV per share (pence) 60.6 94.5 116.0 144.6 171.6 249.6 230.5 223.9 315.4 325.2 657.4
Indices of Growth
1
Share price
2
100.0 167.3 202.8 239.2 313.4 417.7 360.4 342.8 515.9 509.7 1,065.4
NAV per share
2
100.0 156.1 191.5 238.8 283.3 412.3 380.5 369.8 520.8 537.0 1,085.7
Dow Jones Global
Technology Index
3
100.0 153.8 179.5 218.0 257.5 376.9 373.6 384.3 533.8 560.7 869.3
10 Year Performance Graph
Historic Performance
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Total Return (rebased to 100)
As at 30 April
Company ordinary share price
2
Company NAV per share
2
Benchmark
3
%
1 year ended 30 April 2026
102.2
109.0
55.0
193.6
210.8
126.2
163.3
155.1
130.7
985.7
965.4
769.3
3 years ended 30 April 2026 5 years ended 30 April 2026 10 years ended 30 April 2026
Company NAV per share
2
Company ordinary share price
2
Benchmark
3
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
The Company commenced trading on 16 December 1996 and the share price on the first day was 9.6p per share and the NAV per share was 9.75p.
Notes:
1 Rebased to 100 at 30 April 2016
2 Total return assumes reinvestment of dividends.
3 Dow Jones Global Technology Index (total return, Sterling adjusted) with the removal of relevant withholding taxes.
All data sourced from Polar Capital LLP.
Performance over 10 years (%)
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Performance
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
4
This statement forms part of the Strategic Report section
Introduction
On behalf of the Board and myself I am pleased to present
to you the Annual Report of the Company for the financial
year ended 30 April 2026 (FY26). I would like to thank
Shareholders for their continued support and am pleased
to note that Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour
of the Company’s continuation at the AGM in 2025.
Performance
The Investment Manager’s report is provided on
pages 14 to 32 and gives an overview of the year past and
the outlook for the near future.
After a volatile start to the 2025 calendar year, navigating
DeepSeek and Liberation Day tariff shocks, the technology
sector led the market’s recovery during the Company’s
financial year. During the year under review, your
Company’s net asset value (NAV) per share rose from
325.20p to 657.41p, an increase of 102.2%, while the
Benchmark increased 55.0% in sterling terms over the
same period. AI again dominated investor attention,
market returns and portfolio outcomes. This has been the
best relative year for the Company in at least two decades,
reflecting the Investment Manager’s ‘AI maximalist’
positioning which aligned closely with accelerating AI
adoption.
This year also marked 20 years for Ben Rogoff as the lead
manager of the Polar Capital Technology Trust. Under
his management, the Company’s NAV has increased by
2,498% versus the benchmark’s 1,825% increase. During
his tenure, Ben has built and retained a deep and talented
investment team, the quality of which is reflected in the
Company’s performance. The Board maintains its high
confidence in the continued success of Ben and the team.
The Board continues to believe that there are many
interesting developments and long-term opportunities
within our sector and this is discussed further in the
Investment Manager’s Report.
Discount Management
The Company’s discount narrowed during the financial
year under review, ending the year at 8.3% compared
to 11.3% at the end of FY25. The average discount was
9.5% over the financial year. The Board actively monitors
the discount at which the Company’s ordinary shares trade
in relation to the Company’s underlying NAV and, whilst
the Board does not have a formal discount policy, it will
continue to exercise its discretion to buy back shares at a
discount in normal market conditions. Equally, the Board
will also use discretion to issue shares at a premium.
Utilising this discretion, the Company repurchased a total
of 55,803,823 ordinary shares (representing 4.8% of the
issued share capital) in the year under review at an average
price of 411.8 pence per share and at an average discount
of 10.1% to the prevailing NAV. Following the year end,
and up to close of business 2 July 2026, the Company has
bought back a further 7,051,976 shares. While purchase
levels have been relatively low on an individual transaction
basis, we should note that this activity does not preclude
the Manager determining that a more significant amount
than usual on any one day should be purchased. Such a
decision may be influenced by, in the Manager’s view,
there being a particular investment opportunity best
accessed through buying shares in the Company rather
than buying individual securities.
Fees
As previously reported, the Company’s revised
management fee arrangements came into effect on
1 May 2025. We were pleased to have achieved an
agreement with the Manager for an overall reduction to
the base management fee as well as the complete removal
of the performance fee.
New fee arrangements:
The new base management fee is now structured over two
tiers and the performance fee removed entirely:
• Tier 1: 0.75% on NAV up to and including £2bn
• Tier 2: 0.60% on NAV above £2bn
Chair’s Statement
Catherine
Cripps
Chair
5
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Please refer to page 53 for further information on fees.
As a result of the reduction in fees and continued growth in
NAV we are pleased to see that the ongoing charges ratio
has fallen from 0.77% to 0.69%.
Board Composition
The Nomination Committee continues to work on succession
planning as each of the Directors approach their nine year
tenure on the Board. Tim Cruttenden and Charles Park will
be retiring from the Board at the conclusion of the Annual
General Meeting in 2026 and will therefore not be seeking
re-election. We would like to thank both Tim and Charles for
their significant contribution to the Company’s development
during their tenure. The Board is continuing to work on a
managed programme of recruitment and further information
will be shared when available.
There have been no changes to the membership of
the Board during the year under review. The Directors’
biographical details are available on the Company’s website
and are provided on pages 8 to 9.
Directors’ Fees
As detailed further within the Remuneration Committee
Report, an annual fee review was undertaken to ensure
that the remuneration paid to Directors remains attractive,
competitive and in line with those of its peers in order to
attract and retain the best candidates. The Board usually
favours modest increases year-on-year (where applicable)
and with effect from 1 May 2026, the Directors’ base
remuneration increased by 3.4% to £38,250 and the
remuneration of the Chair to £69,500. The supplement
for the Audit Committee Chair was increased to £9,250
to reflect the additional time required in connection with
increased audit regulation and overall responsibility, and
the supplement for the Senior Independent Director was
increased marginally to £4,250.
Annual General Meeting
I am pleased to confirm that the Company’s AGM will
be held on 5 October 2026 at 2:30pm at the offices of
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Exchange House, Primrose
Street, London, EC2A 2EG. We look forward to welcoming
Shareholders to the meeting, at which they will receive a
presentation from the Investment Manager and his team and
Shareholders will also have the opportunity to ask questions
and meet the Board; light refreshments will be available
following the meeting. The Notice of AGM will shortly be
provided to Shareholders and will also be available on the
Company’s website.
Shareholders are encouraged to read the detailed
explanations on the formal business and the resolutions to
be proposed at the AGM contained within the Shareholder
Information section on pages 135 to 136 of this document
as well as the Notice of AGM.
In order to ensure that Shareholders are able to follow the
proceedings of the AGM without attending in person, the
Company will also broadcast the meeting online via Zoom
videoconferencing. However, please note that Shareholders
joining via Zoom will not be able to vote online during the
AGM and are therefore encouraged to submit their votes via
proxy, as early as possible. All formal resolutions will be voted
on by way of a poll. In addition to voting on resolutions
proposed at the AGM, we also welcome Shareholder
engagement with the Board and the Investment Manager.
As such, the Board invites Shareholders to not only attend
the AGM in person but to submit questions in writing to
which we will respond, as far as possible, ahead of the AGM
date. Please send your questions to cosec@polarcapital.
co.uk with the subject heading PCTT AGM.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
The Investment Manager incorporates ESG considerations
into its investment process and the Board continues to
engage closely with the Manager to monitor their progress.
The Board receives regular updates on ESG developments
on the corporate side of Polar Capital’s business. As at
30 April 2026, based on MSCI ESG ratings, the portfolio
and the benchmark were both A rated.
Please refer to the ESG Report on pages 42 to 47
which incorporates both the investment and corporate
approaches.
Outlook
While macroeconomic uncertainty remains and market
volatility may continue, we remain confident in the
long-term outlook for the sector. We believe these
conditions can create attractive investment opportunities,
and both the investment team and the portfolio are well
positioned to benefit from continued developments in
artificial intelligence. At the same time, Shareholders should
be aware that any continued weakening of the US dollar
could act as a near-term headwind to performance, given
that a significant proportion of the Company’s assets are
denominated in US dollars. I encourage you to read the
Investment Manager’s report on pages 14 to 32 for more
insight into the excitement the Manager has about various
themes developing within our sector.
Catherine Cripps
Chair
9 July 2026
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
6
The NAV per share increased from 325.20p at the
beginning of the financial year to 657.41p as at 30 April
2026, representing an increase of 102.2%. This reflects
the Company’s strong performance over the year. The
Investment Manager’s Report on pages 14 to 32 sets out
in detail the performance of the Company for the financial
year. The chart on the following page illustrates the
movement in total net assets for the year.
Total Return
The Company generates returns from both capital growth
(capital return) and dividend income received (revenue
return). The total return from the portfolio for the year was
a gain of £3,752.5m (2025: gain of £118.4m), comprising
a gain of £3,762.0m (2025: £129.7m gain) from capital
and a loss of £9.5m (2025: £11.3m loss) on the revenue
account reflecting the allocation of all expenses against
dividend income. Full details of the total return can be found
in the Statement of Comprehensive Income on page 100.
As a matter of policy, all expenses are allocated to revenue.
The Company’s allocation of expenses is described in
Note 2(d) on page 105 and the allocation methodology is
considered on an annual basis. No change to the policy is
recommended (2025: no change). The earnings per share
were 330.42p (2025: 9.97p), comprising 331.26p from
capital return and a loss of 0.84p from revenue return.
Capital Return
The investment portfolio was valued at £6,846.6m (2025:
£3,664.9m) at the year end 30 April 2026, generating
realised and unrealised gains of £3,788.7m (2025: gains of
£128.5m) over the year. The Company’s valuation approach
is described in Note 2(f) on page 106. During the year under
review, the Company received a one-off special dividend of
£0.3m which was treated as a capital gain. The derivative
losses of £28.8m (2025: gains of £2.8m) have arisen as a
result of the call and put options which are used to facilitate
efficient portfolio management. Full details of the derivatives
are set out in the Investment Managers Report on pages 14
to 32 and Note 6 on page 110.
Revenue Return
Total investment income for the year amounted to £24.3m
(2025: £19.1m) and represents dividend income derived
from listed investments. During the year under review, the
Company received other operating income of £8.5m (2025:
£6.3m) which was derived from bank interest and Money
Market Fund (MMF) interest. It should be noted, however,
that the MMF is held primarily as a cash diversification factor
rather than an income generating investment. As stated
above, as a matter of policy, all expenses are charged to
revenue and as a result, expenses normally exceed the
income received in any given year. As has been the case
for many years, the revenue reserve therefore remains
negative. The Company historically has not paid dividends
given the nature of its focus on longer term capital growth.
The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend
for the financial year under review. The Board reviews this
stance on a periodic basis.
Total Expenses and Finance Costs
The total expenses for the year under review amounted
to £37.9m (2025: £32.5m). These are made up of
investment management fees of £35.8m (2025: £30.9m)
and administrative expenses of £2.1m (2025: £1.6m). In
addition, the Company had finance costs of £1.6m (2025:
£1.8m). The Company’s operating expenses comprise
predominantly of variable costs, such as investment
management, depositary, and custody fees which increase
and decrease based on the net asset value. Other expenses
remained at a level consistent with the prior year. Effective
from 1 May 2025, a revised Investment Management
Agreement was entered into with the Manager, including a
reduction in the base management fee and the removal of
the performance fee. Further details of these changes are
set out on page 53. The Company keeps under close review
the costs and expenses associated with the running of the
Company to ensure that they continue to provide value for
money.
Ongoing Charges
The ongoing Charges Ratio (OCR) is a measure of the
ongoing operating costs of the Company. It is calculated in
line with the AIC recommended methodology, represents
the total expenses of the Company, excluding finance
costs, and is expressed as a percentage of the average daily
net asset value during the year. The OCR demonstrates
to Shareholders the annual percentage reduction in NAV
as a result of recurring operational expenses, that is, the
expected cost of managing the portfolio. Whilst based on
historical information, the OCR provides an indication of
the likely level of costs that will be incurred in managing
the Company in the future. The OCR for the year to
30 April 2026 was 0.69%, a reduction from the previous
year of 0.77%. This reflected both the reduction in the
investment management fee following the introduction
of the revised fee structure and the increase in NAV over
the period. See Alternative Performance Measures on
pages 130 and 131.
Financial Performance Review
For the year ended 30 April 2026
7
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
£ million
Total net
assets at
30 April
2025
Valuation
gains on
invest-
ments
Net gains on
disposal of
investments
Losses on
derivatives
Other
currency
exchange
gains
Total
income
Total
expenses
Finance costs Tax Ordinary
shares
repur-
chased into
treasury
Total net
assets at 30
April 2026
Increase
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
3,804.9
2,302.4
1,486.3
-28.8
33.1
1.9
-37.9
-1.6
-2.9
-232.5
7,324.9
Decrease
Total
Contributors to the movement in total net assets for the year to 30 April 2026 (in £ million)
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company’s absolute level of cash at the year end was
£583.6m (2025: £187.9m), this equates to less than 8% of
the Company’s NAV as at 30 April 2026. As noted above,
as part of the Company’s conservative cash diversification
strategy the Company has chosen to invest 50% of its USD
cash balance into a USD Treasury Money Market Fund. As at
30 April 2026, the Company held the BlackRock Institutional
Cash Series – US Treasury Fund with a value at the year end
of £228.7m (2025: £21.4m).
Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio turnover (purchases plus sales divided by two)
totalled £7,897.8m equating to 141.9% for the year to
30 April 2026 (2025: 119.9%) of average net assets. The
increase from the prior year reflected a higher level of
portfolio activity during the period. Details of the investment
strategy and portfolio are given in the Investment Manager’s
Review on pages 14 to 32.
Gearing
The Company can use gearing for investment purposes as
stated on page 52. The Company remained ungeared, with a
net cash position of 6.2% at the year end. As at the year end,
the Company had fully drawn its three-year fixed rate term
loan of JPY 15 billion with The Bank of Nova Scotia. This loan
is due for repayment in September 2027. The repayment of
this loan, totalling approximately £70.4m would equate to
1% of the Company’s NAV as at 30 April 2026.
Foreign Exchange
The majority of the Company’s assets and revenue are
denominated in currencies other than Sterling and are
impacted by foreign exchange movements. As at the year
ended 30 April 2026, the other currency gains represent
the net gains on translation of loan balances of £8.3m
(2025: gains of £0.9m) less the exchange losses of
currency balances of £6.4m (2025: losses of £2.5m). The
Company’s total return and net assets can be affected
by the movements in foreign exchange. As explained
in Note 27 (a) (ii) on page 120, the primary sensitivity is
to the movement in US Dollar against Sterling. Sterling
appreciated by 1.7% against the US Dollar during the
financial year.
Catherine Cripps
Chair
9 July 2026
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
8
Tim Cruttenden
Senior Independent Non-Executive
Director and Senior Independent
Director (SID)
Appointed to the Board in March 2017
and as SID and Chair of the Remuneration
Committee in July 2020.
Skills and Experience
Tim is currently Chief Executive Officer of
VenCap International plc having been with
that company in various positions since 1994.
VenCap invests in venture capital funds in the
US, Asia and Europe, with a primary focus on
early stage technology companies.
Other Appointments
Tim is a non-executive director of Chrysalis
Investments Limited.
PCT Share Interests
14,393*
Annual Remuneration
£41,200
*including shares held by PCA’s
Catherine Cripps
Independent
Non-Executive Chair
Appointed to the Board in September 2021
and as Chair in September 2022.
Skills and Experience
Catherine is a qualified Chartered Accountant
who has in excess of 30 years’ senior investment
industry experience in a number of trading,
risk management and investing roles including
Investment Director and Head of Research at GAM.
Other Appointments
Catherine is a non-executive director, member
of the Audit Committees and Chair of the Board
Risk Committees of Goldman Sachs International
and Goldman Sachs International Bank.
Catherine is also a non-executive director of the
National Wealth Fund where she is Chair of the
Board Audit and Risk Committee. She is also a
non-executive director of the Arm’s Length Body
of the Government’s terrorism reinsurance vehicle.
Previously, Catherine was non-executive director
of CQS Management Limited where she chaired
the Remuneration and Performance Management
Committees and was a member of the CQS Audit
Committee.
PCT Share Interests
4,810
Annual Remuneration
£67,200
Rationale for re-election
Catherine joined the Board in 2021 and assumed
the role of Chair in September 2022. She brings
to the Board a wealth of investment industry
experience following a number of executive and
non-executive roles. Since taking on the role
of the Chair, Catherine has been proactive in
engaging and building relationships with the
Manager and continues the strong link with Polar
Capital, she has demonstrated effective leadership
skills.
Jane Pearce
Independent Non-Executive Director and
Chair of the Audit Committee
Appointed to the Board in September 2021
and as Chair of the Audit Committee on
31 October 2023.
Skills and Experience
Jane is an experienced non-executive director,
Chair, Audit Chair and Chartered Accountant
with over 20 years’ financial markets experience.
She has a number of years’ experience as a
Technology Equity Analyst and as an Equity
Strategist at leading investment banks including
Lehman Brothers and Nomura International.
Other Appointments
Jane is a non-executive director of Morgan Stanley
Bank International Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co
International plc, and is chair of Morgan Stanley
Investment Management Limited.
PCT Share Interests
10,970
Annual Remuneration
£46,000
Rationale for re-election
Jane is an experienced Audit Chair, non-executive
director and Chartered Accountant with over
20 years’ financial markets experience including
as a technology equity research analyst. She is an
experienced audit committee member and since
assuming the role of Audit Chair, Jane has actively
worked with Polar Capital and the Auditor to
ensure a smooth audit and year-end process.
Board of Directors
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Adiba Ighodaro
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board in December 2024.
Skills and Experience
Adiba is experienced in corporate and commercial
law and has over 30 years extensive experience in
global private markets from working in development
finance, private equity investment and fundraising.
Other Appointments
Adiba is currently an Independent non-executive
director, chair of the Nominations Committee
and member of the Audit and Management
Engagement Committees of ICG Enterprise Trust
Plc, an Independent non-executive director, chair
of the Audit Committee and member of the
Credit Committee of Standard Chartered Bank
Nigeria Ltd. She is also a non-executive director of
M-Kopa Holdings Ltd.
PCT Share Interests
2,448
Annual Remuneration
£37,000
Rationale for re-election
Adiba was appointed to the Board in December
2024. With a legal and extensive investment and
institutional investor development background,
Adiba brings a wealth of experience that is
differentiated and complementary. Board
discussions benefit from her insights drawn from
her experience of operating in international
markets and from fundraising, as well as her
strategic and governance expertise.
Stephen White
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board in January 2018.
Skills and Experience
Stephen qualified as a Chartered Accountant
at PwC before starting a career in investment
management. He has more than 35 years
investment experience, most notably as Head of
European Equities at F&C Asset Management,
where he was manager of F&C Eurotrust plc and
deputy manager of The F&C Investment Trust
plc, and as Head of European and US equities at
British Steel Pension Fund.
Other Appointments
Stephen is a non-executive director and Chair of
Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies Trust plc.
He was also until recently non-executive director
and chair of the audit committee of BlackRock
Frontiers Investment Trust plc.
PCT Share Interests
100,000
Annual Remuneration
£37,000
Rationale for re-election
Stephen has many years of investment and
financial experience including as an investment
company manager, which he brings to the
Board. He also has wide experience of the
institutional and investment company sector,
of its fees, clients and approaches. He has also
held other audit committee chair positions
which bring extra support to our Audit
committee.
Charles Park
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board in January 2018.
Skills and Experience
Charles has over 25 years of specialist
investment experience and was a co-founder
of Findlay Park Partners, an investment
firm specialising in quoted American equity
investments. Prior to this, he was a US fund
manager at Hill Samuel Asset Management.
Other Appointments
Mr Park is a non-executive director of Evenlode
Investments. He also holds a number of positions
as a director or trustee of various private
companies and charities. He was also until
recently non-executive director and chair of
North American Income Trust plc.
PCT Share Interests
18,400
Annual Remuneration
£37,000
9
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
10
Ben Rogoff
Partner
Technology
Ben has been a technology specialist for
30 years. He has been lead manager of Polar
Capital Technology Trust plc since 2006, and
is a Fund Manager of the Polar Capital Global
Technology Fund and Polar Capital Automation
and Artificial Intelligence Fund. Prior to joining
Polar Capital, he began his career in fund
management at CMI, as a global technology
analyst. He moved to Aberdeen Fund
Managers in 1998 where he spent four years
as a senior technology manager. Ben has a BA
(Hons) in Modern History from St Catherine’s
College, Oxford.
Nick Evans
Partner
Technology
Nick joined Polar Capital in 2007 and has
28 years’ experience as a technology specialist.
He has been lead manager of the Polar Capital
Global Technology Fund since January 2008
and is also a fund manager on the Polar Capital
Automation and Artificial Intelligence Fund.
Nick has a degree in Economics and Business
Economics from Hull University, has completed
all levels of the ASIP, and is a member of the CFA
Institute.
Alastair Unwin
Partner
Focus areas: Application and Software
Fintech / Payments
Alastair joined Polar Capital in June 2019 and
has 14 years’ investment experience. Prior to
joining Polar Capital, Alastair co-managed the
Arbrook American Equities Fund. Between
2014 and 2018 he launched and then
managed the Neptune Global Technology Fund
and managed the Neptune US Opportunities
Fund. Alastair has a BA (1st Class Hons) in
History from Trinity College, Cambridge and is
a CFA Charterholder.
Fund Managers
Xuesong Zhao
Partner
Focus areas: Artificial Intelligence and
Semiconductors
Xuesong joined Polar Capital in 2012 and has
19 years’ investment experience. He is a lead
manager of the Polar Capital Automation and
Artificial Intelligence Fund and is a fund manager
on the Polar Capital Global Technology Fund.
Xuesong holds an MSc in Finance from Imperial
College of Science & Technology, a BA in
Economics from Peking University and is also a
CFA Charterholder.
Fatima Iu
Partner
Focus areas: Cybersecurity, Networking
and Infrastructure Software
Fatima joined Polar Capital in 2006 and has
21 years’ investment experience. She is a fund
manager on the Polar Capital Global Technology
Fund. Fatima holds an MSc in Chemistry with
Medicinal Chemistry from Imperial College of
Science & Technology in London. She is also a
CFA Charterholder.
Technology Investment Team
11
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Nick Williams
Investment Analyst
Focus areas: Artificial
Intelligence, Healthcare and
Clean Energy
Nick joined Polar Capital in June
2019 as an analyst on the Polar
Capital Technology team and has 10
years’ investment experience. Prior
to joining Polar Capital, Nick worked
at Neptune Investment Management
as the Assistant Fund Manager on
the US Opportunities Fund. Prior to
that he worked in academia at the
University of Oxford. Nick holds an
MChem in Chemistry from Wadham
College, University of Oxford.
Investment Analysts
Fred Holt
Investment Analyst
Focus area: Semiconductors
and Supply Chain
Fred joined Polar Capital in July 2023
as an Investment Analyst in the
Technology team. Prior to joining
Polar Capital, he worked at Janus
Henderson investors as a Portfolio
Analyst on the Global Technology
Leaders and Sustainable Future
Technologies strategies. Fred has
5 years’ investment experience.
Academic qualifications: BSc in
Geology, University of Bristol and
MSc in Petroleum Geoscience,
Imperial College London. Investment
Management Certificate and is a
CFA Charterholder.
Patrick Stuff
Investment Analyst
Focus area: Semi-caps,
Industrial and Consumer
After graduating from the University
of Warwick with a BSc in Economics,
Patrick joined Polar Capital as an
Operations Executive, where he
provided operational support to
all fund management teams at
Polar, including the Technology
team. During this time Patrick
successfully passed all three levels
of the CFA program first time, and
subsequently, after a successful 8
months seconded to the technology
team, Patrick joined on a full-time
basis in May 2021 as an investment
analyst with a focus on Semi-cap,
Industrial and Consumer. Patrick has
5
year’s investment experience.
Paddy Drewett
Data Analyst
Paddy joined Polar Capital as an
Operations Executive in 2019 from
the Global Markets division of Société
Générale. During this time, Paddy
provided operational support to
the Technology team for over three
years and successfully became a CFA
Charterholder. Paddy transferred
to the Technology Team as a Data
Analyst in June 2024 and provides
expertise on AI implementation while
bolstering the wider data analysis
capabilities of the team.
Lina Ghayor
Investment Analyst
Focus area: Internet and Media
Lina joined Polar Capital in
September 2023 as an Investment
Analyst in the Technology team. Prior
to joining Polar Capital, Lina worked
at Exane BNP Paribas as an Equity
Research Analyst. Lina has 8
years’
investment experience.
Academic qualifications: MSc in
Management – Finance & Law,
ESSEC Business School.
Adam Gildea
Investment Analyst
Focus area: Consumer data /
Consumer discretionary.
Adam joined Polar Capital in January
2026 as an analyst on the Polar
Capital Technology team. Prior to
joining Polar Capital, from December
2021 Adam worked at Bank of
America as an equity research
analyst on the European consumer
discretionary team. Prior to that he
worked in baseball operations and
analytics for the Philadelphia Phillies
and Los Angeles Dodgers. Adam has
4 years’ investment experience.
Academic Qualifications: Master of
Science (MSc)
– Economic History,
London School of Economics
Bachelor’s degree in Economics from
Arizona State
University
Paul Johnson
Investment Analyst
Focus areas: Automotive (EV/
AV), Video Gaming and Space
Paul joined Polar Capital in 2012 and
has 14 years’ investment experience.
Prior to joining Polar Capital Paul
helped manage a private investment
fund between 2010 and 2012. Paul
holds a BA in History and Politics
and a Masters in History from
Keele University. Paul is also a CFA
Charterholder.
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
12
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Managers’ Report
13
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
13
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Market review
Equity markets delivered a third consecutive fiscal year of
gains in the 12 months to the end of April 2026, with global
and US indices both returning 28.8%, in sterling terms,
including dividends. This capped an extraordinary three-year
run in which the S&P 500 doubled from its October 2022
lows. Most major markets posted strong fiscal year 2026
(FY26) returns, flattered by April 2025 volatility around
Liberation Day tariff uncertainty and the subsequent relief rally
as reciprocal tariffs were paused.
Having entered the year with near-record country (US), sector
(IT) and stock (‘Magnificent Seven’ (Mag7)) concentration,
FY26 finally rewarded diversification – Europe (+21.6%),
Japan (+28.1%) and South Korea (+148%) all delivered
strong returns. Much of the ex-US performance reflected
multiple expansion as the long-standing US premium,
even adjusted for growth, narrowed. In the US, company
valuations remained elevated versus history and returns were
almost entirely driven by earnings. The dollar weakened
by 1.7% versus sterling during the fiscal year, while the
trade-weighted US dollar spot index (DXY) declined by 1.4%.
While US stock-level returns were narrow, sector returns
showed greater breadth. Technology still delivered strongly in
the US, while financials and miners staged a powerful recovery
in Europe, partly as AI capital expenditure (capex) spilled into
infrastructure-related areas. Rising single-stock volatility also
gave active managers greater scope to add alpha.
FY26 was defined by robust global growth, central bank
interest rate cuts, upside to AI capex and growing optimism
over the broader tailwinds from AI adoption. Markets
climbed the proverbial 'wall of worry' as tariff concerns and
erratic policy kept uncertainty levels elevated.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed in early July
2025, delivered substantial stimulus via corporate tax cuts
and investment incentives. Financial conditions stabilised
as Middle East tensions eased, inflation moderated and
labour markets cooled, prompting the Federal Reserve (Fed)
to resume cutting interest rates in September. Consumer
spending proved resilient, led by higher-end consumers,
and the labour market held up despite tariff and policy
uncertainty. Inflation ran slightly above the Fed's 2% target,
but did not re-accelerate as feared, allowing three further
25 basis point (bp) rate cuts in the second half of 2025.
Late summer and autumn brought fluctuating rate
expectations and a prolonged US government shutdown,
triggered when Congress missed the 30 September
appropriations deadline. At 43 days, it was the longest in
US history, ending on 12 November. Sentiment was tested
by pockets of credit stress and renewed tariff threats,
particularly around Chinese rare earth export controls. Fed
Chair Jerome Powell publicly clashed with President Trump
over the pace of cuts and Fed independence. Momentum
stalled in Q4, though equities held up, supported by resilient
company earnings, easing inflation, supportive monetary
policy and continued strength in AI-related capex.
Early 2026 saw a sharp rotation in equity markets from
growth to value, secular to cyclical, asset-light to asset-
heavy, US to ex-US. AI disruption risk came into acute
focus in late January as weaker-than-expected results
from Microsoft, SAP and ServiceNow were poorly received
against an inflection in coding capabilities from Anthropic's
Claude Code. Terminal value concerns caused technology
stock valuations to fall sharply, driving the software sector's
forward price to earnings (P/E) ratio from 35x to below 20x
(i.e. investors previously willing to pay £35 for every £1 of
earnings are now paying less than £20).
AI concerns spread to data-intensive industries and
intermediaries – media; information services; brokers;
business services – and Goldman Sachs' AI-at-risk basket
was down 22% year to date by mid-February. Even
traditionally resilient, high-quality businesses weren't
spared, posting their steepest 12-month losses since the
pandemic. Conversely, cyclicals and consumer industries
This report forms part of the Strategic Report section
Investment Manager’s Report
Ben Rogoff
Partner, Technology
Alastair Unwin
Partner, Deputy Fund Manager
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
15
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
rallied as the ISM Manufacturing Index turned positive
and the premium investors would pay for perceived 'AI
defensibility' expanded. This resulted in an increase in
market breadth and dispersion. The consumer staples
sector – seen as sheltered from AI – reached the same
valuations as technology, a sector that delivered one of its
weakest starts to a year in five decades.
Geopolitical uncertainty rose sharply in the final months
of the fiscal year. A US military buildup in the Middle East
culminated in coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iran in
late February, raising concerns about wider regional conflict
and disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The
conflict injected significant uncertainty around inflation,
growth and the path of monetary policy, driving demand
for safe-haven assets as the oil price rose to a multi-month
high. The final weeks delivered a sharp reversal. On 8 April,
President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire which
held in some form through to the end of the month, and
investors rushed back into AI stocks despite tighter financial
conditions and a less favourable rate outlook.
Technology review
After a volatile start to the calendar year navigating
DeepSeek and Liberation Day tariff shocks, the technology
sector (as per the Company's benchmark, the Dow Jones
Global Technology Net Total Return Index, sterling adjusted)
led the market's recovery during the Company's financial
year, returning +55% for the 12 months to 30 April 2026.
Large and small-cap technology companies both delivered
strong returns – the Russell 1000 Technology Index +51.7%
and Russell 2000 Technology Index +63.8% – while the
Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index and NASDAQ
100 lagged at +46.8% and +38.8% respectively. Concerns
over the impact of higher AI investment on margins and
cashflows, plus uncertain returns on investment (RoI), drove
a more two-way debate on many Mag7 constituents.
AI again dominated investor attention, market returns
and portfolio outcomes, with the continued improvement
in model capabilities the most important driver of the
investment narrative. This culminated in a step-change
in enterprise adoption and AI revenue growth into
calendar year 2026 that surpassed even the most bullish
expectations. This was all against a backdrop of the highest
US tariff regime in nearly a century and a sharp valuation
reset in incumbent application software.
The clearest immediate financial implication of AI model
improvement was accelerating hyperscaler (the largest cloud
companies) investment in AI infrastructure and the rapid
consumer and enterprise adoption it enabled. ChatGPT
grew from 500 million weekly active users at the start of
the fiscal year to 900 million by year-end. Consensus 2026
hyperscaler capex rose from $314bn at the start of 2025 to
$751bn by April 2026 – up 140% in 16 months.
OpenAI and later Anthropic struck a series of large multi-
year compute commitments with Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon
and Google, alongside neo-clouds including CoreWeave and
Nebius. Anthropic completed a $30bn round of institutional
funding, its seventh successful round, in February 2026 at
a $380bn post-money valuation; OpenAI closed a $122bn
round in March 2026 at $852bn. Cross-investments
involving AI labs, hyperscalers and semiconductor chip
providers raised concerns about 'circular financing', though
the arrangements were small in scale, transparent and
strategically justifiable. Concerns eased as AI token demand
and revenue came through well ahead of expectations.
Extraordinary capex numbers, compute commitments and
equity investments reflected their confidence in continued
scaling laws and the size of the AI opportunity. Late
2025 and early 2026 saw a significant inflection in model
capabilities: Google Gemini 3 (November 2025), Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5/4.6/4.7 (November 2025-April 2026) and
OpenAI GPT-5.4/5.5 (January-March 2026). The step-change
in model performance, alongside major improvements in
agentic harnesses (orchestration layers around foundation
models that provide planning loops, memory, execution
environments and guardrails), plus the ability to call
deterministic software tools where required, enabled models
to pursue multi-step tasks autonomously rather than simply
respond to individual prompts and expanded the length
of time a model could work autonomously by orders of
magnitude. OpenClaw – an autonomous open-source
personal AI agent – went viral in January 2026 and became
the fastest-growing open-source project in history.
These developments marked the true arrival of agentic AI
and a critical inflection point: the shift from AI assistance
to execution, as AI models began doing economically
valuable work autonomously. Enterprise adoption promptly
accelerated: according to Ramp, token consumption
among its customers grew 14x between January and
April 2026. The most striking proof point was Anthropic's
annualised revenue, which rose from $9bn at the start of
2026 to $30bn by early April.
Repeated positive revisions to hyperscaler capex flowed
through to AI infrastructure suppliers. Demand accelerated
beyond the industry's ability to supply it and multiple
bottlenecks emerged across the new AI computing
architecture. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
returned 145% as compute demand inflected, particularly
as agentic workloads grew exponentially. Semiconductor
equipment manufacturers saw record orders and backlog,
TSMC reported industry-leading utilisation and raised
its long-term AI revenue growth targets, and sentiment
16
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
improved on a reinvigorated Intel under new leadership
supported by fresh capital and a mandate for domestic
chip production. Ongoing China export uncertainty
remained a headwind, but demand proved more resilient
than feared as Beijing's threat to restrict rare earth exports
appeared to temper US efforts to tighten controls.
Networking stocks were pulled into the AI trade as new
compute architectures required new networking topologies
to deliver performance and address power and other
bottlenecks. Suppliers of connectors, cables, componentry,
power systems and cooling to the data centre buildout also
delivered strong returns. Many hardware-centric subsectors
that benefitted from the AI inflection had consolidated and
were reluctant or unable to add capacity, driving higher
pricing as demand exploded. Memory and storage were
the best examples – clean room shortages and HBM (high
bandwidth memory) conversion squeezed commodity
supply, prompting customers to seek longer-term
agreements. Hard disk drives also benefited as the most
cost-effective solution for storing and retaining training
and inference data.
Software lagged materially with the iShares Expanded
Tech-Software ETF (IGV) returning -14.3%. Q3 2025
brought a negative inflection in sentiment as even mildly
disappointing earnings were punished heavily. Concerns
about the terminal value of SaaS (Software as a Service)
businesses gained traction as model makers moved up the
technology stack, coding tools proliferated and seat-based
models came under pressure. Subsequent model releases
redoubled fears over AI's role in replacing traditional
human-facing software workflows as code became
abundant, pressuring shares further in early 2026.
Internet companies also struggled as although advertising
and e-commerce growth remained strong, significant capex
weighed on free cashflow and AI narrative swings drove
sentiment. Alphabet was a notable exception – initially
weak as traffic share loss and decelerating paid click growth
highlighted the ChatGPT competitive threat. It subsequently
rallied when a judge in an antitrust case against Google
ruled for more lenient remedies than the Department
of Justice (DoJ) had sought, removing a major overhang
on its Search business. Alphabet's AI narrative improved
alongside an accelerating product cadence: deeper Gemini
integration in Chrome and AI Search, Nano Banana image/
video generation, then Gemini 3 and Project Genie 3. The
market also reappraised Google's TPU (tensor processing
unit) initiative as a credible GPU (graphics processing unit)
competitor and Search held up far better than feared.
Meta Platforms (Meta) delivered solid AI-driven monetisation
gains and continued to surprise with the scale of its capex
commitments, but the failure to ship a competitive frontier
model weighed on the stock. Apple posted solid headline
numbers and reached a $4trn market capitalisation (cap),
though Apple Intelligence remained underwhelming as
a consumer-facing AI proposition. The iPhone refresh
cycle proved more durable than feared, partly offsetting
unresolved regulatory threats to the services business.
Portfolio performance
The Company significantly outperformed its benchmark
during the period, with net asset value (NAV) per share
increasing by +102.2% during the financial year versus
+55.0% for its benchmark, the sterling-adjusted Dow
Jones Global Technology Net Total Return Index.
The Company's share price rose +109.0% over the period,
reflecting both strong growth in the value of its underlying
assets and active share buybacks that helped close the gap
between the share price and asset value. That gap – the
discount – narrowed from -11.3% to -8.3%. The Company
bought back 55.8 million shares during the year, more
than the 38.9 million repurchased the year before, leaving
1,114.2 million shares in issue at 30 April 2026.
While naturally reluctant to celebrate periods of strong
performance, we should acknowledge a remarkable year,
even if absolute returns were flattered by a low starting
point given the weak close to the prior financial year.
The Company's relative performance was among the
strongest in its history and its outperformance versus peers
– already strong across most timeframes – has extended
meaningfully, evidenced by top decile performance over
one, three, five and 10 years versus its Lipper peer group.
The dominant driver of relative performance was our
'AI maximalist' positioning, which aligned tightly with
accelerating AI adoption, surging infrastructure investment
and a sharp bifurcation between AI 'haves' and 'have-nots'
across the technology sector.
While significant underweight positions in Microsoft
(+417bps) and Apple (+360bps) were among the largest
stock-level contributors, the breadth of our AI-related
exposure across multiple subsectors delivered considerably
greater alpha. Stock selection contributed positively across
every market-cap sector and major geography, with
outstanding performance in small and mid-cap stocks.
The semiconductor sector and its supply chain remained
central to the AI story. AI capex drove a surge in HBM
demand, which spilled over into firmer commodity DRAM
and NAND pricing. The result was extraordinary returns
across the memory complex over the reporting period,
most notably SanDisk (+374bps from a +3,257% stock
return), SK Hynix (+140bps) and Micron Technology
(+95bps). Higher data storage requirements and strong
Investment Manager’s Report continued
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17
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hyperscaler capex meeting tighter supply also drove strong
returns in hard disk drives, an area the Company had not
held meaningfully for years, but, applying our 'AI lens',
revisited during the year. This produced significant positive
contributions from Seagate Technology (+199bps) and
Western Digital (+107bps).
While the large (average 10.6%) but underweight
(-4.1%) position in NVIDIA detracted -58bps from relative
performance as we found opportunities elsewhere and
tried to balance single-stock risk with enthusiasm for the
AI theme, this was more than offset by broader AI-related
exposure. The Company benefited from overweight
positions in Advanced Micro Devices (AMD; +167bps),
TSMC (+65bps) and Intel (+45bps), alongside key supply
chain enablers including Elite Material (+314bps),
TTM Technologies (+139bps) and Ibiden (+77bps).
Semiconductor equipment and manufacturing companies
also performed well on AI- and memory-related demand:
LAM Research (+165bps) and KLA (+91bps), plus smaller
holdings such as Disco (+32bps) and FormFactor (+50bps).
Tokyo Electron (-33bps) provided a modest offset.
The Company's exposure to networking provided more than
1,000bps of relative performance. As previously discussed,
the sector – encompassing chips, cables, fibre, switches
and optical components – appears well positioned to
benefit from the shift toward denser, higher-performance
computing and the growing need to interconnect AI training
clusters across multiple data centres. The theme enjoyed a
sharp recovery from the depressed Liberation Day-induced
lows and produced a plethora of large contributors:
Lumentum Holdings (+379bps from a +1,402% stock
return), Ciena (+306bps), Corning (+204bps), Fujikura
(+201bps), Celestica (+178bps), Coherent (+129bps), Asia
Vital Components (+127bps), Credo Technology Group
Holding (+94bps) and Fabrinet (+74bps).
Closely related, the off-benchmark exposure to the data
centre power and cooling theme also contributed strongly,
benefiting from capex strength and the increasingly power-
intensive nature of AI-optimised servers and data centres.
Strong order books and earnings momentum drove
positive contributions from Delta Electronics (+146bps),
GE Vernova (+93bps), Vertiv Holdings (+89bps), Siemens
Energy (+80bps) and Caterpillar (+36bps), more than
offsetting modest detractions from other power-related
holdings such as Belimo Holdings (-27bps). We leaned
on our AI team's experience and domain expertise as we
scaled exposure to these technology-adjacent areas.
Another major driver of relative performance was
our significant underweight in the software sector,
which materially underperformed during the year. This
positioning reflected our out-of-consensus view that
incumbent software is unlikely to prove a good conduit for
AI – a view the market embraced as enterprise software
multiples compressed and several leading SaaS franchises
came under sustained pressure. Microsoft (+417bps)
underperformed the benchmark by 53% over the period
as expectations adjusted to AI-driven competition and the
defensive nature of elevated capex. Underweight or zero
positions in Salesforce.com (+116bps), Intuit (+85bps),
SAP (+87bps), ServiceNow (+80bps), Adobe Systems
(Adobe)(+72bps), Oracle (+67bps) and IBM (+61bps) all
contributed positively, partially offset by smaller positions
in MongoDB (-75bps) and Snowflake (-33bps).
The internet sector proved more challenging. The largest
single stock detractor was an underweight in Alphabet
(-235bps), reflecting a strong post-April recovery supported
by a favourable DoJ outcome, successful model launches
(Nano Banana; Gemini 3; Genie) and a reappraisal of the
strategic value of Google's first-party chip and networking
capabilities. This was partially ameliorated by the Google
equity call options, which added back 122bps. The arrival of
agentic AI and collapsing cost of code raised terminal value
questions for Spotify Technology (-54bps), Carvana (-44bps),
Netflix (-41bps), AppLovin (-37bps) and Shopify (-34bps).
Robinhood Markets offered a modest offset (+44bps).
Unsurprisingly in a strong market, the largest negative
contributions came from cash and the NASDAQ put
options. An average cash position of around 4.8% was the
single greatest drag (-277bps), while we paid away 130bps
on NASDAQ put options designed to ameliorate the impact
of sharp technology sector drawdowns.
As mentioned in prior reports, we view both cash and
the NASDAQ put strategy within the context of an overall
portfolio whose beta – owing to our growth and AI focus –
remains well above one. In the prior year, the NASDAQ put
options worked effectively during the January-April selloff.
They also allowed us to maintain the pro-AI shape of the
portfolio during early April volatility, which undoubtedly
contributed to the Company's strong rebound. Finally,
the use of equity call options – implemented to protect
against upside risk in select stocks where we hold large
underweight positions – contributed 125bps to relative
performance during the financial year. Foreign exchange
(FX) was a modest headwind to Company returns as sterling
strengthened slightly versus the US dollar, given the majority
of the portfolio’s holdings are denominated in non-sterling
currencies, primarily the dollar and dollar-linked currencies.
Market outlook
We consider the market outlook primarily through the lens
of whether any potential macro or market shock is likely to
derail the AI story. The answer so far has been 'no' – or 'not
yet' – as the S&P 500's rebound from October 2022 lows
has been among the strongest since 1928.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Assuming Middle East events do not cause sustained oil price
increases or petrochemical shortages, US growth should
remain firm as the drag from tariffs gives way to tax cuts and
OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) stimulus. Political risk is likely
to remain elevated, however, especially around the midterms
where a change in control of the House and/or Senate could
limit the administration's ability to pass legislation and bring
further geopolitical volatility to markets. Real wage growth and
loose financial conditions should support consumer spending,
though lower income families may continue to feel the
squeeze. Cyclical indicators like the ISM Manufacturing and
Purchasing Managers’ indices (PMI) have picked up and tax
incentives and deregulation should drive business investment.
The most important market questions for the Company's
outlook are (1) whether breadth returns and (2) whether AI
will prompt a market regime shift.
(1) Breadth
Technology – and associated US and growth exposure –
outperformed so dramatically for so long because profit growth
and returns on equity (RoE) rose substantially relative to other
sectors and geographies, driven by the scaling up of cloud
computing, the growth of the digital economy and increasing
returns to scale. Prodigious cash generation was reinvested in
high-RoIC (return on invested capital) businesses, rivals were
acquired or outcompeted and the share of earnings increased.
After years of mega-cap US technology dominance,
investors face a broadening set of opportunities and
have thus far been rewarded for diversification. Elevated
valuations, tight credit spreads and strong ‘risk-on’
leadership suggest there is little macroeconomic risk left to
price out of broader markets so earnings growth should be
a key contributor to future returns. The durability of any
broadening trade ultimately depends on whether earnings
breadth improves. We are optimistic conditions are in place
for a recovery in market breadth as almost every industry
is being reimagined in the wake of AI, though an oil shock
pushing inflation higher and setting back the case for
interest rate cuts makes this more challenging near-term.
NTM Earnings And Price - S&P 600 To S&P 500
(2) Market regime shift
We have long been interested in the potential for a
regime shift after many years of US ‘Big Tech’ dominance,
though our conclusions have generally been cautious.
A combination of AI and geopolitical developments is
changing what the market wants. Following the global
financial crisis (GFC), capital systematically rotated towards
high-quality, asset-light compounders generating elevated
returns on invested capital with above-trend growth. AI
disrupts this framework at its foundation. By compressing
the time and cost required to replicate a company’s
competitive advantage, it accelerates the erosion of the
ability for the best companies to earn returns well above
their costs of doing business. The theoretical endpoint is
that exceptional profitability becomes harder to sustain,
with more companies earning only ordinary returns. This
could favour a longer-term shift towards asset-heavy, short-
cycle, commodity-adjacent businesses already earning close
to their cost of capital. Those fortunate businesses with
growing competitive strengths, sitting on increasingly scarce
complementary assets in an AI-first world, could see their
shares meaningfully rerated upwards by the market.
AI also redefines scarcity, and asset prices will respond. Prior
eras were defined by what was scarce: in the Malthusian
Age, land determined the population it could support; in
the Industrial Age, capital became reproducible through
machines, making labour the bottleneck and enormously
valuable. That is the world we still inhabit – wages are high
because human intelligence cannot be replicated cheaply.
Transformative AI challenges that logic. If cognitive and
eventually physical labour become reproducible at marginal
cost, what AI cannot reproduce appreciates in relative value.
Relative prices shift. Energy, land, water, manufacturing
expertise with genuine barriers to entry, authentic human
experiences, proprietary data, brands and regulatory
franchises all become relatively more valuable precisely
because they cannot be created in a data centre. While the
potential distributional and governance questions around
this shift are profound and unresolved, the investment
implications to us are clear: be willing to pay up for what
remains scarce in a world of abundant intelligence.
Barclays Long-Short Quality Factor, 1-year & Rate of Change
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Labour market risk
The bear case to this thesis runs through the job market.
If AI displaces existing work faster than new work can be
created, the disinflationary effect may come via a collapse in
overall demand rather than a productivity boost. A jobless
expansion would exacerbate wealth inequality and likely
trigger political responses such as universal basic income, AI
taxes, labour protections and compute caps. The standard
reassurance – that diffusion rates rather than capabilities
determine labour market impact and that Goldman Sachs
estimates fewer than 3% of workers are at high risk of
full displacement by current AI – we find unconvincing.
The major difference from prior GPT (general purpose
technology) cycles is that many of the complementary
changes will be provided by AI itself: electricity did not
create new physical plants or reorganise work but future AI
could create entirely new ways of doing knowledge work
that displace whole jobs rather than automating parts of
them. The labour market experience is likely to be a 'jagged
frontier' where tasks, and potentially jobs, fall in scope of AI
and never return. There is scant evidence of material concern
in credit spreads, bond yields or inflation breakevens which
is precisely why we think it is underpriced.
% of global AI adoption index vs youth unemployment change
(pp) since December 2022
Source: Deutsche Bank
Despite this, our base case remains constructive – global
growth stays resilient, corporate earnings expand and central
banks ease over time. However, geopolitics has muddied the
waters, and tail risks from a much more significant conflict
to persistent inflation, to AI monetisation uncertainty, are
more numerous and consequential than at any point since
the pandemic. Our core conviction is that the AI story is just
as exciting, but the investment regime is shifting.
The forces that supported 'just own US large-cap tech
and Treasuries' – globalisation; falling rates; digitisation;
favourable demographics – are giving way to a regime that
rewards diversification, exposure to physical assets and
underappreciated regions. This does not mean abandoning
technology exposure but the risk/return profile of portfolios
robust to a wider range of outcomes has become more
attractive: more global; more diversified; more resilient.
Our bull case rests on the AI infrastructure cycle continuing
and delivering greater productivity gains and economic
growth than disruption in the near term, just as it did in
the mid-to-late 1990s. Growth accelerates, inflation comes
down and rate cuts continue, providing conditions for
valuations to break higher rather than hold stable. Per the
Census Bureau, AI adoption among US establishments now
stands at 18.9%, with adoption among firms of >250 staff
already at 34.8%. Dispersion is significant: in Q4 earnings
calls, 70% of S&P 500 companies referenced AI (54% in
productivity terms) but only 10% offered detailed use cases
and just 1% quantified a measurable earnings impact.
US real GDP growth
Source: Deutsche Bank
Market/macro risks
Valuations appear extended relative to history, although
this has been true for several years amid improving margins
and structurally high returns on equity. Equity risk premia
have fallen back toward pre-GFC levels, leaving the market
historically expensive and increasingly concentrated at a time
when parts of its profit engine may be slowing.
US household equity allocations have also reached record
levels, while elevated retail participation and growing use of
zero-dated call options leave markets more vulnerable to shifts
in sentiment. Such a shift could be triggered by higher risk-free
rates, potentially driven by rising energy and other input costs,
expansionary fiscal policies, including the OBBBA and higher
defence spending, and already elevated fiscal deficits.
With just seven AI-exposed stocks accounting for roughly half
of S&P 500 earnings per share growth in 2025, with a similar
contribution expected in 2026, broader market performance
is becoming increasingly tied to continued AI progress,
particularly at a time when the largest companies may need
to accelerate investment ahead of corresponding revenues.
20
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Technology outlook
(1) AI driving accelerating IT budgets
Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
2025
Spending
2025
Growth
(%)
2026
Spending
2026
Growth
(%)
Data Center Systems 505,634 51.6 787,990 55.8
Devices 791,663 9.7 856,189 8.2
Software 1,254,449 12.8 1,443,621 15.1
IT Services 1,715,650 6.2 1,870,197 9.0
Communications Services 1,296,409 3.3 1,358,553 4.8
Overall IT 5,563,805 10.5 6,316,550 13.5
Source: Gartner (April 2026)
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-04-22-gartner-forecasts-
worldwide-it-spending-to-grow-13-point-5-percent-in-2026-totaling-6-point-31-trillion-dollars
Calendar year 2025 delivered one of the best years for IT
spending in recent history at 10.5% growth, exceeding earlier
expectations of 9.8% and well ahead of 7.7% in 2024.
Together, these two years represent the strongest back-
to-back growth since 1995-96. All the upside to Gartner's
January 2025 forecast came from data centre systems, which
grew 52% year on year (y/y) versus expectations of 23%.
Other categories came in line or light of this.
For 2026, worldwide IT spending is forecast to remain
strong at 10.5% y/y, with growth more clearly skewed
towards AI as model and agentic progress drive
enthusiastic enterprise adoption following disappointing
early gains from copilots. Data centre systems are now
expected to exceed $780bn in 2026, up from earlier
expectations of $650bn. Software is forecast to accelerate
to 15.1% y/y, though this includes GenAI (generative
AI) model spending growing 80%. Device spending is
expected to decelerate to 8.2%, partly due to rising
memory prices and extending replacement cycles.
CIO surveys consistently rank AI as the top IT priority for 2026.
Citi's Q4 2025 survey placed AI first, ahead of cybersecurity,
digital transformation and robotics/automation. Jefferies
estimates 12% of IT budgets are now allocated to AI, up
from 6.5% in its previous survey, with 24% of CIOs now
delivering production use-cases per Citi. Rising confidence in
productivity gains likely explains why 63% of CIOs expect AI-
related spending to affect hiring plans.
(2) Earnings growth
For calendar year 2026, the S&P information technology
sector is forecast to deliver revenue and earnings growth
of 28% and 48% respectively, well ahead of the wider
market's 10.8% and 22.9% (although earnings growth
is flattered by some unrealised investment gains, e.g. in
SpaceX and Anthropic stakes). Outperformance is expected
to extend into 2027 with revenue and earnings growth
of 17.7% and 24.7% compared to 6.9% and 13.7% for
the broader market. While these forecasts might appear
at odds with elevated geopolitical uncertainty, the AI
imperative and corporate earnings have thus far proved
more resilient than feared.
S&P 500 consensus earnings growth (Y/Y): CY 2026
65.9%
27.1%
Today
31 Mar
Energy
44.1%
36.7%
Info.
Technology
39.4%
29.0%
Materials
27.0%
13.2%
Comm.
Services
22.8%
17.0%
S&P 500
14.0%
8.8%
Consumer
Disc.
12.9%
12.5%
Utilities
10.3%
7.8%
Industrials
9.9%
8.6%
Financials
6.4%
6.1%
Consumer
Staples
5.1%
4.5%
Real
Estate
3.7%
6.7%
Health
Care
0.0%
7.5%
15.0%
22.5%
30.0%
37.5%
45.0%
52.5%
60.0%
67.5%
75.0%
Source: FactSet
First-quarter reporting season has been supportive with blended
earnings growth of 30.7% y/y, though headline numbers mask
significant subsector divergence – semiconductors (+49%)
doing much of the heavy lifting while others delivered more
modest growth.
The most significant risks to the sector's earnings profile are
geopolitics, AI disappointment and concentration risk (the
Mag7's outsized share of sector earnings). Large FX moves
would also have a disproportionate impact – technology has
the highest international revenue exposure of any S&P 500
sector at 55% versus the S&P 500 average of 39%.
(3) Valuation
Technology's valuations expanded modestly through most
of the past year, but recent pronounced weakness in
software and internet stocks – groups perceived as AI losers
– has driven a contraction in headline valuations. The sector
now trades on a 25.1x forward earnings, down from 26.3x
last year and sits between five (25.5x) and 10-year (24.3x)
averages. The S&P 500's current forward P/E of (c.21x)
remains elevated by historical standards, at a level seen only
a handful of times in recent history (2021 and 1998-2000).
Investment Manager’s Report continued
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S&P 500 information technology sector forward P/E
Source: Ned Davies, S&P DJ Indices and MSCI (GICS).
On a relative basis, technology’s P/E trended lower for much
of the past year. More recently, AI disruption fears, coupled
with a robust Q4 earnings season, triggered a sharper
derating. However, subsequent sector strength has seen the
sector's relative P/E recover to 1.2x, its 20-year average.
(4) Repricing AI risk
Headline valuations belie record subsector divergence, as
AI disruption has created clear winners and losers. Those
perceived as benefitting from AI – particularly chip makers
– have reached valuations not seen since early 2021 while
software recently traded at its lowest valuations since 2016.
The software plunge saw almost 80% of stocks suffer a
>30% drop, almost unheard of outside cyclical bear markets.
To us, this feels less like a sudden dislocation rather than an
overdue reaction to fundamentals that have been diverging
from semiconductors since at least 2020. We remain
significantly underweight software and the internet on long-
held concerns about their relevance in an AI-first world.
US software vs US semis: Relative price & relative revenue revisions
Source: Baird/Bloomberg.
(5) Mag7 challenged
After years of sharp outperformance, Mag7 returns have
been moderating. In 2025, only NVIDIA and Alphabet
outperformed the S&P 500, reflecting diverging AI
fortunes. The group now accounts for 31% and 25% of
the S&P 500 market cap and forward earnings respectively,
compared to 29%/22% a year ago.
Mag 7: Market-Cap vs earnings
Source: Ned Davis, S&P Capital IQ Compustat.
The premium valuation enjoyed by this remarkable group
of natural monopolies is now being challenged by a
combination of prosaic and potentially existential factors
– converging growth rates, elevated AI investment and
rising capital intensity. While we believe current hyperscaler
capex is rational and in long-term shareholder interests,
interest alignment will be challenged near-term as
hyperscalers – particularly those without frontier models –
become asset-heavy 'quasi-utilities'. Against this backdrop,
the absence of tangible AI benefit is likely to result in capex
being increasingly perceived as defensive.
Risk to Hyperscalers: CapEx Growers Have Historically
Underperformed
Source: NDR
We see agentic AI as a threat to existing cloud platforms,
especially those without a frontier LLM (large language
model) and/or their own chips. The LLM is the 'brain' of any
agentic system. Without a frontier model, cloud platforms
may cede the most lucrative part of the AI value chain – the
orchestration layer – and with it application programming
interface (API) revenue and control over the 'scaffolding'
of core tools and management infrastructure. AI also
threatens other massive profit pools – advertising (a $1trn
market by 2028 dominated by Google, Meta and Amazon),
e-commerce (Amazon accounts for 40% of US online retail)
and software (Microsoft's 72% PC of the operating system
market and 450 million productivity software users).
22
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Competing visions
Source: Rothschild & Co Redburn.
The absence of a frontier model is a key reason we
have become considerably more cautious on Meta and
Microsoft, and why we meaningfully increased Alphabet
exposure (which also has its own competitive chip) ahead
of and after Gemini 3. There are still many ways for each
Mag7 company to 'win' in the AI era, but the range of
outcomes has shifted. Apple remains an outlier, lacking a
frontier model but spending modestly on AI capex, and we
wonder if the company might change tack once Tim Cook
steps down as CEO in September.
In The Magnificent Seven (1960), only three of the seven
gunfighters survive. We suspect the Mag7 trade may be
approaching a similar moment and for those competing
directly, they obviously cannot all win, even if the overall
return on investment for AI is very positive.
Mag7 now accounts for 29% of the portfolio versus
>50% of the benchmark. The burden of proof has shifted
onto incumbents to demonstrate their relevance in an
AI-first world. We expect to exit anything we believe to be
impaired, holding significantly smaller equity positions in
incumbents augmented with out of the money (OTM) call
options to protect against significant rallies.
(6) Implications of a post-Mag7 world
Aside from 2022, the Mag7 has outperformed the S&P
500 in nine of the past 10 calendar years. Should recent
underperformance extend, the investment ramifications
would be significant – some are already unfolding.
After another exceptionally narrow market in 2025 (only
30% of S&P 500 stocks beat the index), we are hopeful
the backdrop becomes more active-manager friendly. This
may take the form of improved breadth – the recent low
in the Russell 2000 vs S&P 500, back to levels last seen
around 2000, feels like a significant portent and a potential
moment for small-cap companies to reassert themselves.
We are also intrigued by the potential for AI tool use to
materially increase the audience for smaller businesses by
helping discovery and analysis.
(7) Change of leadership?
S&P 500 Information Technology sector high-low logic index
,-.% ,-/ ,-/% ,-- ,--% % , ,% %
0
%
1
.-
,
,
,%/
%,
1,
0
%
1
.-
,
,
,%/
%,
1,
#$%&!' " #$%+2)),3104
!"# $%#&#%
! " # #
&!'
( )**
+
56!"
5&
'
7,- 1 10/
81!,- ,1, 11,,
1!8 11 1/
),
,
1
0
%
.
/
-
,
,,
,
),
,
1
0
%
.
/
-
,
,,
,
&!' ()**+2)),3%%4
'()*+#,
Source: Ned Davis, 20 February 2026.
We are even more excited about a potential change
of technology leadership as the AI cycle extends. This
long-held view was recently supported by a fascinating
spike in the S&P Information Technology High-Low Logic
Index, which measures the number of technology stocks
simultaneously making new highs and lows. The index
recently surged to 11.3, by far its highest reading since
1972, with prior peaks between 5.0 and 7.0 during
the early and late 1990s. What it measures is breadth
divergence: the IT sector at peak relative highs versus
the S&P 500 with internal breadth is the most fractured
ever. We believe this represents AI disruption, with
semiconductors and infrastructure surging to new highs
while software, IT services and internet break to new lows.
At the headline level things look fine; beneath that, we see
a sector in turmoil.
While others continue to push the dot.com parallel, the
high/low reading looks more akin to the technology
leadership rotations of the early 1990s PC cycle.
The PC cycle parallel
Like the AI cycle, the early 1990s PC cycle was hardware-
driven and enabled by scaling laws. IBM's 1981 PC quickly
became the standard business microcomputer. The fateful
decision to use an Intel microprocessor was reframed
by Moore's Law and Intel's merchant volumes. Intel's
fifth-generation Pentium (1993) unlocked a processing
throughput bottleneck much as HBM has enabled training
of massive AI models, while Windows 3.1 (1992) sold three
million copies in its first two months and turned the PC into
a viable platform.
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Global personal computer unit sales, 1975–2011
Sources: Jeremy Reimer, “Total Share” (1975–1993); Gartner / IDC worldwide PC
shipments (1994–2011).
PC units grew from 24 million to 150 million between 1990
and 2000. Microsoft's revenues increased 30x between 1986
and 1995 at 25% net margins, and its market cap grew
roughly 70x in nine years from IPO, overtaking IBM in early
1993 despite generating a fraction of its revenue – highly
reminiscent of recent growth inflections at OpenAI and
Anthropic. The incumbents, meanwhile, were in freefall: IBM
posted an $8bn loss in 1993, the largest in US corporate
history; DEC, the world's second-largest computer company
in 1988, lost money in almost every year between 1991 and
1996; Wang Laboratories, which had controlled up to 80% of
office word processing, filed for bankruptcy in 1992.
What lessons might we learn from the PC cycle?
1. Rapid leadership change: In 1993, IBM's share price
halved and its market cap fell below Microsoft's for the
first time, despite IBM generating $62bn in revenue
to Microsoft's $3.8bn. PC and client-server winners
rapidly usurped incumbents within indices, years before
fundamentals ‘justified’ the rotation.
2. New (invisible) market opportunities: Early PC
winners were later augmented by software applications
(Adobe; Corel), utility vendors (Symantec; Norton),
networking (3Com; Novell) and an entirely new gaming
hardware layer. In 1993 – the same year IBM posted
the largest loss in US corporate history – Jensen Huang
founded NVIDIA and ATI (now AMD) listed in Toronto.
3. Moving up the stack: Having established Windows as the
platform, Microsoft systematically moved into applications.
Lotus 1-2-3 was displaced by Excel; Novell NetWare's
networking dominance evaporated when Windows NT
(1993) added built-in networking; WordPerfect, Borland
and Netscape each dominated their category until Microsoft
leveraged its platform to enter, bundle and win. Anthropic's
recent moves into tool use, computer use and model context
protocol (MCP) connectors look less like feature additions
and more like the early stages of a Microsoft-style platform
expansion from model provider toward the application layer.
4. Architectural shift: The PC cycle is usually framed as the
natural successor to previous hardware cycles – mainframe
to minicomputer to PC – but it represented something more
fundamental: vertically integrated computing was replaced
by a horizontally layered alternative where Intel owned
the processor, Microsoft owned the operating system and
commodity assemblers owned the box. Value migrated
from integration to specialisation, hardware to software,
proprietary to open. The PC democratised computing but
destroyed every incumbent built on a vertical moat.
AI is following a similar pattern of misidentification. It is
widely articulated as the natural successor to the cloud
because both are scaled forms of computing delivered
remotely. However, the underlying stack is profoundly
different: parallel rather than serial, power-hungry rather
than power-efficient, with model builders adopting
heterogeneous approaches to architecture, training,
inference and power. Before AI, the unit of compute was
the server; today it is the rack and tomorrow it may be the
data centre itself. AI may democratise cognition, but the
infrastructure required is anything but commoditised. The
AI cycle is therefore likely to look less like on-premise to
cloud – which destroyed branded hardware but preserved
much of the existing software stack – and far more like
mainframe to PC, which destroyed the incumbents entirely.
5. Greater competition: Investors should brace for
significantly greater competition. The new cycle has created
a window for entrants to displace incumbents. Microsoft
may have felt it covered its bases when it invested (brilliantly)
in OpenAI back in 2019, just as IBM may have done when
it launched its PC in 1981. However, the PC cycle shows
that revenues, installed bases, brands and customer loyalty
count for little when an architectural shift renders technical
foundations obsolete. Lotus had the dominant spreadsheet.
WordPerfect had the dominant word processor. Novell had
the dominant network. None of it mattered. Current debates
about near-term software model challenges look remarkably
small relative to AI's likely disruptive impact on existing
clearing prices and digital profit pools over time.
24
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
(8) End of US exceptionalism?
This might partly explain why US market leadership is
waning. The Company is at its largest US underweight in
many years, principally from reducing software/internet
exposure and reinvesting in semiconductors/hardware assets
in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as in the US.
However, all is not lost for US technology. America enjoys
strong or dominant positions in AI chips, storage, power,
optical networking and other components, and is winning the
frontier model race led by Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.
Beyond AI, the US holds strong positions in aerospace/
defence, space, autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.
This is likely to become more apparent as the IPO (initial public
offering) market recovers following another subdued year.
The outlook for issuance is genuinely exciting should OpenAI
and Anthropic become public as reported. SpaceX could
also ignite the IPO market while refreshing the quality and
narrative of the US-listed technology universe. In our view –
from a distance, given we have not seen their financials – all
three are world-class, pure-play assets on critical investment
themes. We are also keeping a close eye on Databricks and
Stripe, both scaled mission-critical platforms.
(9) Later, but still not a bubble
After a remarkable year, some of our 'bubble' indicators have
moved up a notch. However, we still feel AI stocks are not
in bubble territory and the current backdrop more closely
resembles the mid- rather than late-1990s. Valuations look
expensive relative to history but undemanding relative to the
market – and far from 2000, when technology comprised
32% of market cap but only 12% of earnings, compared to
43% of the market cap (including communication services)
and 38% of earnings today. The IPO market remains far from
bubble conditions – just 31 venture-capital-backed technology
companies went public last year (14 in 2024), versus 370 and
261 in 1999 and 2000 respectively. The average age at listing
was 14 and 12 years for 2024 and 2025 deals, rather than
five years for the 1,400 companies that went public between
1995 and 2000.
Loss-making companies making IPOs shot up in the 1990s
M&A (mergers and acquisitions) are another useful bubble
indicator. Even ignoring software deals we consider
defensive or private equity-related, 2025 was much busier
for AI-related M&A – disclosed deal value of $120-125bn
including software and security, c$50-55bn for pure
hardware, infrastructure and talent acquisitions compared
to $10-12bn in 2024. The 5-6x like-for-like increase looks
more reminiscent of the mid-1990s when telecom and
internet M&A increased 4-5x between 1995 and 1996.
As a share of index market cap (up almost nine-fold since
1996), last year's activity looks even less significant and
most of the largest deals were cash, not equity financed.
There has been a greater use of debt financing relative to
earlier AI capex. According to the Financial Times, Oracle,
Meta, xAI and CoreWeave have structured over $120bn of AI
data centre financing through off-balance-sheet SPVs (special
purpose vehicles), while UBS estimates $125bn flowed into
AI-related project finance during 2025. We are not unduly
concerned – most resemble sensible financing structures
for long-life infrastructure assets, not dissimilar to aircraft
leasing. The best borrowers continue to enjoy easy access
to capital – Google's $32bn bond sale in February was 10x
oversubscribed and completed within 24 hours. Nevertheless,
the industry's need for external capital speaks to the scale and
maturity of current capex plans. Pockets of exuberance are
to be expected: in August 2025, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
called it "insane" that some tiny AI startups – "three people
and an idea" – were being funded at billion-dollar valuations.
While data points like this are unsettling, excitable private
markets also reflect an acute shortage of AI talent.
(10) Volatility likely
We still consider current conditions more analogous to the
mid- rather than late-1990s and, as previously warned, the
volatility that accompanied that period should be anticipated.
The NASDAQ experienced seven corrections of more than
15% between 1995 and 1998, despite delivering substantial
returns. Volatility should be considered an inherent feature
of transformative technological transitions. This was certainly
the case in 2025, a remarkable year punctuated by DeepSeek
(which saw an AI leaders basket drop 18%) and Liberation
Day tariffs (which triggered a 9% S&P 500 decline, pushed
the VIX – a measure of volatility in the S&P 500 – to 60
(anything above 50 is cause for concern) and wiped roughly
$5trn in market cap). Realised volatility ran at 19% – the 83
rd
historical percentile – and the largest peak-to-trough S&P
500 drawdown was 19%, nearly double the annual median
of 10%. We expect heightened volatility to persist – elevated
P/E ratios, tight corporate spreads, rising government debt,
unprecedented AI capital spending, broadening AI disruption
and record retail participation all leave markets with less
margin for error should narratives shift.
Source: Gavekal Research/Macrobond.
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AI cycle update
(11) Rapid adoption: users and tokens
AI adoption continues to significantly outpace historic trends
seen with the PC, internet and smartphone. OpenAI recently
announced it had reached 900 million weekly active users
(WAU) with ambitions to grow to 2.6 billion WAU by 2030
while Google's Gemini AI surpassed 750 million monthly
active users (MAU). User growth has helped drive AI usage,
as measured by token growth which had been compounding
at 4-5x annualised before appearing to accelerate to 9x
annualised growth in January. In Altman’s words, reasoning
and agentic have taken AI into a "new phase where frontier
AI moves from research into daily use at global scale".
(12) Enterprise adoption begins
This is evident from Anthropic's revenue trajectory. Having
ended 2024 at $1bn, Anthropic's annualised recurring
revenue (ARR) reached a remarkable $14bn in February 2026,
making it, at the time, the fastest-scaling business to business
(B2B) company in the history of software. Since then, ARR
exploded to $19bn in March, $30bn in April and – according
to reports – $47bn in May. This is truly unprecedented; no
company in history, to our knowledge, has ever reached
$30bn of ARR within four years, let alone $47bn.
This revenue breakout reflects an inflection in enterprise
AI adoption which had previously trailed consumer
adoption due to early scepticism and inconsistent model
performance. This is clearly no longer the case, with
measurable productivity gains driving demonstrable RoI.
Anthropic's analysis of Claude usage shows a median 84%
time saving per conversation, concentrated in the 80-90%
range for multi-step cognitive work. AI is collapsing the
coordination cost of knowledge work, creating a self-
reinforcing adoption loop: freed capacity justifies further
investment in AI infrastructure and tooling.
As discussed in last year's Annual Report, agentic AI
represents the architectural breakthrough that enables
enterprise adoption because enterprises are built on
repetitive, multi-step workflows that are too complex for
a simple prompt but do not require human judgement
at every step. Unlike chat, agentic AI can integrate with
existing systems and complete work. By 2028, technology
research firm Gartner expects 15% of day-to-day work
decisions to be made autonomously by AI agents.
(13) Rapid model progress
The emergence of agentic AI reflects the extraordinary
pace of underlying model progress during 2025, a year
that began with the DeepSeek R1 shock and ended
with an unprecedented wave of frontier releases. AI
systems evolved rapidly from conversational chatbots into
reasoning-driven, multimodal agents able to operate across
text, image, audio and video with expanding autonomy.
Frontier closed-source models delivered major advances in
reasoning, hallucination reduction, multimodal capability
and million-token context windows, with leading systems
achieving gold medal standard mathematical performance
alongside near-human or superhuman coding ability.
Open-source models also advanced rapidly, led by a
wave of Chinese releases, including DeepSeek R1, that
brought frontier-level performance to dramatically lower
price points. Momentum accelerated further in early
2026 as systems such as Claude Code and open-source
autonomous agents demonstrated how quickly AI is
evolving from a passive assistant into a practical digital
worker, while models such as Claude Mythos Preview
hinted at levels of reasoning, autonomy and technical
sophistication previously associated only with highly
specialised human experts.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
(14) Task-completion time horizon
Time horizon of software tasks different LLMs can complete 50% of the time
As previously discussed, agentic AI introduces the prospect
of non-human scaling in cognitive labour. Accordingly,
one of the most important frontier AI benchmarks today is
the duration and complexity of tasks a system can reliably
complete autonomously. The so-called task-completion time
horizon measures the length of a task – based on expert
human completion time – that an AI agent can successfully
complete at a given level of reliability. A 50% time horizon
represents the task duration at which an agent succeeds
half the time. Until recently, the duration of tasks AI systems
could complete was doubling roughly every seven months –
already an extraordinary rate of progress – but since 2024 this
pace has accelerated to closer to every four months. At this
threshold, ChatGPT (2022) could autonomously perform tasks
requiring less than a minute of human expert effort; GPT-5.2
(2025) could manage tasks exceeding six hours; Anthropic's
Opus 4.6 (2026) – the model underpinning Claude Code –
has reportedly extended this horizon to 14.5 hours.
(15) The coding breakthrough
Claude code: Daily GitHub Commits
Source: Claude generated from Semianalysis.
This remarkable progress has appeared first in coding.
In early 2025, Anthropic launched Claude Code, a
command-line coding agent able to autonomously navigate
codebases, write and edit code, run tests and commit
changes with minimal human oversight. By September,
Claude Code had reached $1bn ARR and, in December,
Boris Cherny – its creator – stated that 100% of his
commits (unit of code) were written by Claude + Opus 4.5.
Daily GitHub commits attributed to Claude Code rose to
4% of all public GitHub commits, an extraordinary 43,000×
increase in roughly 13 months. A commit is not code itself,
but rather a snapshot of changes to a repository and one
of the few observable, standardised time-series signals for
software production.
While this may appear to be ‘just’ faster coding, it is better
understood as non-human scaling and helps explain
why AI has entered a more disruptive phase. The release
of Cowork in January extended Claude Code to non-
technical users. More importantly, as AI shifts from tool
to autonomous worker, RoI follows. Although just one
example, Anthropic’s revenue trajectory also undermines
earlier claims that AI revenues were insufficient to justify
current levels of capex. Nor should it surprise us that
systems capable of autonomously completing multi-hour
tasks possess far greater economic value than those limited
to minutes. Just as skyscrapers transformed the value of
land by conquering vertical space (and thus it became
economic to replace early skyscrapers with taller structures
on the same site very quickly), so conquering cognitive
depth is transforming the value of AI.
Investment Manager’s Report continued
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Gillender Building (1897) replaced by (2x taller) Bankers Trust
Building (1910) after just 13 years
(16) Code as a reasoning substrate
The coding breakthrough also matters because code has
become part of the reasoning process itself, rather than
merely an output. Frontier models increasingly use code
to externalise state, memory, iteration and precision into
deterministic systems better suited to those tasks. A useful
analogy is using AI to calculate a tax return. Previously, the
LLM had to perform the entire calculation within token space:
interpreting the tax code, applying thresholds, carrying figures
forward and holding all dependencies simultaneously in
memory, with small reasoning errors compounding along the
way. Today, the model is not doing the tax return directly – it
writes the system that does the tax return. The reasoning
and synthesis still come from the model, but calculation,
state management and iteration are offloaded into Python.
By externalising or offloading cognition, a probabilistic LLM
produces deterministic, repeatable output.
(17) Capex and the AI race
In his 2020 shareholder letter, CEO Jeff Bezos quantified
the value of Amazon Prime in terms of time saved. He
estimated Prime saved members more than 75 hours
annually versus physical store trips, valuing that at
roughly $630 per member against a subscription price of
$119. Time is also a useful lens through which to view
AI progress, given that many of the key benchmarks
are denominated in time, including autonomous task
duration and the acceleration of human work. Applying
this framework to the developed-world knowledge wage
bill ($23trn), assuming half is addressable by current AI
and using Anthropic's estimate of 80% time savings,
generates $9-10trn in equivalent labour value. Applying
an Amazon-style 16% capture rate suggests a potential
AI revenue opportunity more than $1trn today – and this
captures only the current visible market opportunity. In
1998, the internet addressable market was framed as a
share of the existing $500bn global advertising market;
today, e-commerce, digital advertising and video streaming
together exceed $7trn. AI may unlock similarly large
invisible markets that are difficult to frame today.
(18) Looks like convergence…
From a distance, AI models appear to be converging. On
benchmarks such as MMLU (massive multitask language
understanding), leading systems now cluster above 85%,
while open-source models often launch at 90% of frontier
performance and close much of the remaining gap within
months. Chinese models are believed to trail US frontier
labs by less than a year, while architectures themselves
are converging around mixture-of-experts (MoE) designs.
DeepSeek's release of R1 in January 2025 crystallised the
commoditisation narrative: it matched OpenAI's o1 on
many benchmarks while charging just $2.19 per million
output tokens versus o1's $60. Today, open-weight models
such as Qwen3 and Meta AI's Llama 4 offer near-frontier
capability at close to zero marginal cost.
This convergence, however, is largely a mirage. Static
benchmarks obscure widening gaps in economically valuable
capabilities. On SWE-bench Pro – a demanding real-world
coding benchmark – frontier models such as Claude Opus
and GPT-5 solve more than 20% of tasks, while open-
weight Qwen3 32B achieves just 3.4%. Frontier systems also
reason differently, exhibit distinct strengths and produce
materially different outputs. Unlike compute or storage,
cognition is not fungible. That helps explain why closed-
source models still account for roughly 80% of token usage
and 96% of industry revenue despite costing, on average,
eight times more per token than open alternatives.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
(19) Front-runners breaking away from the pack
Today, the frontier appears increasingly concentrated
around three companies: Anthropic, OpenAI and Google
DeepMind. Everyone else is either a tier below or reliant on
one of these for their intelligence layer. That these three
companies' models are clustered or trading positions in
benchmarks is not evidence of commoditisation. It means
that only they are today able to compete at this level. Meta
is spending enormous sums, but Llama is today a strong
open-weight model, not a frontier one. Amazon Nova
competes on cost, not capability. Smaller and open-weight
models can match frontier performance on isolated tasks
but degrade sharply when each step depends on the
previous one.
This heightened level of intensity is evident in soaring
capex budgets, high-profile talent wars and faster model
iteration. In less than a month during late 2025, four
frontier labs launched their most powerful models: Grok
4.1, Gemini 3, Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-5.2. Since then,
the pace has only accelerated. The leading labs are locked
in a pace that is self-reinforcing: every capability jump
resets the field and compresses the interval to the next
one, with perceived leadership shifting with each new
model breakthrough. Huge differences in token prices for
the most capable models indicate the market reality of the
returns to frontier intelligence.
The AI race is one the smartest companies know they
cannot afford to lose. Now that agents are viable, it
should be clear that the LLM increasingly resembles the
operating system of the agentic world – the layer that
interprets intent and orchestrates execution. Any company
without a frontier model is building on someone else's
operating system, exposed to margin compression, feature
absorption and – in an age of abundant code – rapid
obsolescence.
Figure 5....now $790bn
0
100
AMZN MSFT GOOG META AAPL ORCL
+56%
+81%
+70%
CRWV T2+
200
2012
Capex, $bn
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025E
2026E
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Capital expenditure program as share of GDP
Annual average over program duration or year if specified
Louisiana Purchase (1803) 3.0%
0.2%
0.4%
1.2%
1.6%
2.0%
2.1%
US hyperscalers (2026)
US railroads (1850-59)
North American onshore E&P (2014)
Telecoms (2000)
Interstate highway program (1955-70)
Apollo space program (1960-73)
Source: Companies World Bank, Wall Street Journal and S&P Global.
That is why capex budgets can be both historic and entirely
rational. Following an extraordinary 2025, AI capex is
now expected to approach $800bn (+70% y/y) this year.
Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle alone plan
to spend as much as $690bn (+60% y/y) from already
historic 2025 levels, while China is also scaling rapidly with
$125bn spent on AI capex last year. Between the two
blocs, global AI infrastructure spending is approaching
$1trn annually. The conviction behind it is simple: the
industry is supply constrained, AI workloads will consume
every available unit of compute capacity and the penalty for
underbuilding is existential. The cost of staying in the race is
also compounding, with each generation of frontier model
requiring roughly an order of magnitude more compute
alongside a rapidly growing inference burden – inference
workloads already consume over 55% of AI-optimised
infrastructure spending in 2026, up from a third in 2023.
Investment Manager’s Report continued
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29
(20) Who could leave the table?
While each participant in the AI race has their own
motivations, history suggests that as the ante rises
the number of players thins out. The xAI/SpaceX
merger – while framed around the vision of orbital data
centres – may have been a strategy to ensure that xAI
had access to the capital required to stay in the AI race.
Oracle plans to raise $45-50bn in debt and equity this
year having spent like a hyperscaler without the balance
sheet of one. At the same time, others could yet join
the game: Microsoft could enter the frontier race having
relied on OpenAI for model access, with Microsoft AI CEO
Mustafa Suleyman explicit in wanting Microsoft models
"at the absolute frontier". Apple also remains a wildcard,
with $130bn in cash and its CEO due to step down in
September. As for the AI labs, both continue to raise
capital relatively easily: in February, Anthropic closed a
$30bn funding round while OpenAI raised $110bn, the
largest private financing in history.
(21) Disruption, accelerated
In today's digital economy, attention scarcity is monetised at
every layer. Instead of the so-called 'long tail', we created vast
new digital gatekeepers that helped humans make informed
choices from an almost infinite range of alternatives. Data
exploded 32-fold in a decade, helping to defend, optimise
and scale the digital winners into the natural monopolies that
many are today. However, AI represents three principal risks
to these profit pools: abundant code, non-human actors, and
a natural language interface.
Abundant code: The modern digital economy rests on
roughly 2.8 trillion lines of code written over the past two
decades, of which perhaps one trillion lines remain actively
maintained. In 2010, the world produced around 33 billion
lines of new or modified code per year; by 2024, AI coding
assistants were producing 256 billion lines, with 41% of all
new code now AI-generated. Today, tools like Claude Code
and OpenAI’s Codex can independently write software,
improve existing code and even submit completed updates
with minimal human involvement. The cost per line of code
has followed: from $7-15 pre-AI, to $2-4 with assistants, to
sub-$2 with agentic systems – and falling, as token prices
decline at roughly 90% per year. The digital platforms were
built when code was scarce and expensive. Today, the
marginal cost of code is converging on zero.
Non-human actors: Pre-AI digital profit pools were
earned by solving a real problem: helping humans navigate
infinite choice and monetising the time/value trade-off
at the heart of every digital interaction. 'Time is money'
has underpinned two centuries of economic logic, and
the entire margin structure of the digital platforms, but
agents have infinite time. A human will pay for a shortcut;
an agent will simply do the work. That distinction matters
because the moats that took a decade to build – network
effects; data flywheels; switching costs – were durable
in a world where iteration was slow, learning was
expensive and time was scarce. Agents face none of these
constraints. They operate on a different efficient frontier,
optimising for compute costs, not time.
Natural language interface: Every previous interface
revolution made software easier to use, e.g. command
line to graphical user interface to touchscreen. Each also
diminished the value of incumbency, breaking habits and
rendering previous workflows obsolete. However, the
LLM is significantly more disruptive. It responds to intent,
not instruction, unbundling the human operator from the
application itself and making software redundant as an
interface layer.
Abundant code lowers the barriers to entry. Non-human
actors erode the willingness to pay. The natural language
interface unbundles the user from the application.
Together, they represent a profound challenge to many
digital incumbents.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
In information services, AI can approximate datasets
that were previously valuable because they were hard
to assemble rather than fundamentally secret. The moat
was never the data, but the human labour required to
collect, synthesise and curate it. AI collapses that labour
by 80-90%. In software, three moats look challenged –
data trapped inside the application, workflow lock-in from
learning the user interface (UI) and integration complexity
between systems. In an AI-first world, the application
becomes a backend service that the LLM orchestrates, not
a product that a human operates.
Advertising – worth $1trn by 2028 – also appears
AI-exposed. Performance advertising is today built on
attention scarcity with platforms monetising the space
between intent and action. Agentic commerce may also
reshape e-commerce – Morgan Stanley estimates agentic
gross merchandise value could reach $190bn in a base case
and $385bn in a bull case by 2030, implying 10-20% of US
e-commerce. Content is likely to be highly disrupted too, as
high-quality AI-assisted video content continues to improve
and become significantly cheaper. Last year, UK creative
agency headcount fell 14% year-on-year, the steepest
decline since records began. Within five years, McKinsey
estimates $60bn of content revenue could be redistributed.
These areas potentially at risk from disruption are not
exhaustive. Any business whose competitive advantage
exists purely as executable code sits on a different risk
curve. Disruption risk extends well beyond code; agentic AI
systematically attacks confusion, inertia and opacity – three of
the most profitable features of the consumer economy today.
Technology risks
As we have previously outlined, the principal technology
risk to the AI cycle and our portfolio is that the pace of
model progress, adoption or monetisation fails to justify
the historic level of infrastructure investment currently
underway. Much depends on continued confidence in
scaling laws; however, these are empirically observed
rather than theoretically derived and there is no
fundamental reason they must continue indefinitely.
Data scarcity, diminishing returns from pre-training or an
architectural breakthrough that invalidates the current
paradigm could each flatten the current trajectory.
Regulation adds a further layer of uncertainty. The EU AI
Act is now in force, US state-level legislation is proliferating
and unresolved copyright litigation could yet establish
precedents that materially alter the economics of frontier
model development. More broadly, sufficiently rapid
advances in frontier capability could provoke direct state
intervention, including licensing regimes, restrictions on
model releases or greater government oversight of frontier
labs, any of which could alter how AI value accrues across
the ecosystem.
There are also risks associated with the financing of this
investment cycle. While we are broadly comfortable with
the increasingly interconnected capital flows between
industry participants – which we view as a form of
vertical integration in a stack no single company fully
controls – they nevertheless create system-level fragility.
The structure depends on AI revenues materialising on a
timeline compatible with capital deployment. JP Morgan
estimates cumulative AI capex requirements of $5.3trn
through 2030, with a $1.4trn financing shortfall emerging
even after hyperscaler cashflows, investment-grade bond
issuance, securitisation and leveraged finance are fully
utilised. Private credit is expected to bridge much of that
gap, although recent indicators have been mixed.
Hyperscaler balance sheets are also becoming materially
more capital intensive: the roughly $2trn of AI assets
planned by the five largest hyperscalers could imply annual
depreciation expense of $400bn by 2030, greater than
their combined 2025 profits. Except for Alphabet, none of
the hyperscalers currently controls a leading frontier model,
meaning current spending increasingly resembles a Red
Queen dynamic in which participants must keep running
simply to maintain competitive positioning.
The AI cycle is also exposed to a range of infrastructure
and supply-chain risks. AI demand remains constrained
by the availability of power, networking, advanced
semiconductors, memory, packaging and data centre
capacity, leaving the industry vulnerable to bottlenecks,
delays and cost inflation. Power may prove the most
underappreciated constraint. Training and serving frontier
models increasingly requires gigawatt-scale infrastructure.
US grid interconnection queues are measured in years, and
new gas turbine delivery times now extend to 5-7 years.
Geopolitical tensions represent a further material risk,
particularly around Taiwan and US/China relations, given
Taiwan’s dominant role in advanced semiconductor
manufacturing and China’s importance across both supply
and demand. Export controls, tariff escalation, restrictions
on rare earth minerals or disruption to semiconductor
supply chains could materially affect AI infrastructure
deployment, sector valuations and, by extension, our ‘AI
maximalist’ portfolio positioning.
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Our AI bull case: cognitive abundance
The industry's most prominent figures have made
predictions that would once have sounded absurd.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has argued that AI-enabled
biology and medicine may condense 50-100 years of human
progress into 5-10. In his recent essay The Adolescence of
Technology, he defines “powerful AI” as a system smarter
than a Nobel Prize winner across most relevant fields, able
to carry out tasks autonomously, with enough compute to
run millions of instances of itself – a "country of geniuses
in a data centre" – and in 2024 suggested this could be as
little as 1-2 years away. DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis has
spoken of drug discovery becoming a thousand times more
efficient while Sam Altman has suggested AI could compress
a decade of scientific progress into a single year. While
these claims echo Ray Kurzweil's long-standing view that
technological progress compounds far faster than human
intuition allows, they also assume cognitive abundance:
AI cheap and continuous enough to put billions of minds to
work in parallel.
There is a precedent for abundance turning a known
resource from input to substrate. By 1901, oil - refined into
kerosene - lit the world's lamps. While it had already made
Standard Oil one of the most valuable companies on earth,
everything that moved the economy - the trains, the ships,
the factories - ran on coal. For the same heat, oil cost four
times as much.
Spindletop changed that. On 10 January 1901, the Lucas
gusher on Spindletop - a salt-dome hill in Texas - blew
oil 150 feet into the air at 100,000 barrels a day, more
than every other US well combined at the time. The price
collapsed to three cents a barrel – for a time, cheaper than
water - and oil became something to burn rather than
merely to light. Within the year, railroads and steamships
began converting from coal, and within a decade a lamp
fuel had become the substrate of the industrial world.
Today, intelligence is the kerosene of the modern
economy. The breakthrough in task duration may be
AI's Spindletop. If so, the claims of Altman and his peers
are not so fantastical — and the question becomes not
whether to dismiss them, but what would need to be true
for them to be even directionally right.
The easiest way to underestimate AI is to mistake the
current interface for the underlying capability. ChatGPT
is to AI what the telegraph was to electricity – a narrow
early application of a far more significant general-purpose
technology. We ask AI to slot into workflows designed
around scarce, expensive human attention, just as early
factories bolted electric motors onto steam-era layouts.
The deeper opportunity is to redesign around abundant
cognition from the outset. The binding constraint today
is not cost – at current token prices, even an Edison-scale
invention is computationally cheap – but continuity:
reliable, persistent, reality-linked cognition over long
durations. That bottleneck does not look permanent.
Context windows are expanding, memory architectures
improving, agents are learning to coordinate tools and sub-
tasks over extended horizons.
The deeper implication is institutional. No single human
mind could hold the Apollo space programme end-to-end;
tens of thousands of people each understood a fragment
– heat shields, guidance software, orbital mechanics etc
made compatible through shared standards, hierarchies and
records. Bureaucracy, in Weber's sense, was itself a form of
externalised rationality: the historical solution to cognitive
scarcity was to break problems into human-sized pieces and
build institutions to coordinate them. AI does not merely
substitute for the specialists working on those fragments.
As context, memory and agency scale, it begins to encroach
on the institution's deeper function – the coordinating
intelligence that keeps the whole problem in view.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
The richest problems – protein folding; materials discovery;
climate modelling; drug design – sit at the intersection
of domains no individual human can hold simultaneously
in their mind. Specialisation was the workaround; the
polymath was the rare exception. Abundant cognition
collapses that constraint, allowing combinatorial search
across domains that humans could only ever explore
sequentially. The prize is problem-solving systems whose
logic we can observe in operation without ever fully
containing it in thought. Asked why LLMs work at all,
Noam Shazeer, one of the architects of the transformer,
replied: "My best guess is divine benevolence. Nobody
really understands what's going on."
Oil transformed existing markets – ships and railways – but
its real consequence lay elsewhere. Oil was a liquid; the
change of state opened markets a solid could never reach:
the automobile, and behind it the aeroplane, the highway,
the petrochemical economy – none of which was visible
from the boiler room. So it is likely to prove with cognition.
The cheaper, faster analysis available today is remarkable
but still only substitution. The transformation lies in the
markets that could not previously exist at all: the space of
things worth trying that we have never been able to afford
to try.
This is why the 'low-hanging fruit has been picked'
objection collapses. The sequence space for a modestly
sized protein is 10
260
; nature has produced perhaps 10¹³
across all species. The space of drug-like molecules is
estimated at 10
60
; chemistry has synthesised roughly 10
8
.
DeepMind's GNoME work expanded the catalogue of
stable inorganic crystals from 20,000 to 421,000 in a single
study – centuries of experimental progress in one pass
and still a negligible fraction of the wider design space.
The fruit was never too high. We have barely entered the
orchard.
Ben Rogoff & Alastair Unwin
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc
9 July 2026
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By Stock
The top ten relative contributors and the bottom ten relative detractors from performance over the year to 30 April 2026.
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
4.17
3.79
3.74
3.60
3.14
3.06
2.04
2.01
1.99
1.78
-2.35
-1.19
-0.93
-0.75
-0.63
-0.58
-0.54
-0.50
-0.44
-0.42
%
Microsoft+
Lumentum
Sandisk
Apple+
Elite Material
Ciena
Corning
Fujikura
Seagate Technology
Celestica
Tesla
Carvana~
Axon Enterprise
Spotify Technology
Nvidia+
Applied Materials~+
MongoDB
ASML+
Alibaba
Alphabet+
By Region*
year to 30 April 2026
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
-2.77
-2.47
0.79
39.19
0EXMR%QIVMGE
-RHI\3TXMSRW
'EWLERHSXLIVW
97'EREHE
%WME4EGMćGI\.ETER
.ETER
)YVSTI
1MHHPI)EWX%JVMGE
-0.37
0.14
3.39
9.70
%
By Market Capitalisation*
year to 30 April 2026
-10.00 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00
46.91
Large Cap (>$10bn)
Mid Cap ($1bn - $10bn)
Small Cap (<$1bn)
Index Options
Cash and
-2.77
-2.47
0.42
5.51
%
* This represents the gross return of the fund minus the benchmark return. This reflects the attribution effect where the fund’s return is compared to the
benchmark return.
+ Relative underweight position.
All data sourced from Polar Capital LLP.
~ Not held at the year ended 30 April 2026.
Performance Attribution
34
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4
Advanced Micro Devices
Amazon.com
Sandisk
Elite Material
Celestica
TTM Technologies
Siemens Energy
TDK
MACOM Technology Solutions
Fujikura
Oracle
Cisco Systems
Palantir Technologies
Broadcom
Applied Materials
Meta Platforms
Alphabet
Nvidia
Microsoft
Apple
%
-0.80
-0.80
-0.83
-0.84
-0.91
-1.52
-3.25
0.93%
0.93%
0.93%
1.01%
1.01%
1.10%
1.39%
1.53%
1.72%
2.12%
-5.24
-7.14
-9.18
By Relative Stock Weighting
as at 30 April 2026
By Region
Benchmark weighting
30 April 2026
% of total net assets
30 April 2026
% of total net assets
30 April 2025
US & Canada 79.9 62.9 71.9
Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) 13.8 17.9 12.1
Japan 2.0 6.9 2.1
Other Net Assets - 6.5 3.7
Europe (inc - UK) 4.1 5.3 6.2
Middle East & Africa 0.2 0.5 3.1
Latin America - - 0.9
Total 100.0 100.0
By Market Capitalisation
Benchmark weighting
30 April 2026
% of total invested
assets 30 April 2026
% of total invested
assets 30 April 2025
Large Cap (>$10bn) 97.3 96.4 89.4
Mid Cap (>$1bn - $10bn) 2.5 3.4 10.1
Small Cap (<$1bn) 0.2 0.2 0.5
Total 100.0 100.0
All data sourced from Polar Capital LLP.
Portfolio Positioning
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
35
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Classification of Investments*
as at 30 April 2026
North
America (inc.
Latin America)
%
Europe
%
Asia Pacific
(inc. Middle
East)
%
Total
30 April
2026
%
Total
30 April
2025
%
Benchmark
Weightings as
at 30 April
2026
%
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment 26.9 1.7 9.9 38.5 28.8 42.8
Interactive Media & Services 10.9 - 0.6 11.5 11.6 17.1
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components 4.7 0.4 6.0 11.1 5.5 0.3
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals 6.6 - 3.5 10.1 6.4 16.9
Electrical Equipment 1.6 2.2 1.5 5.3 2.1 -
Communications Equipment 3.4 0.5 0.7 4.6 2.8 2.8
IT Services 2.8 - - 2.8 5.5 2.9
Software 2.4 - - 2.4 19.2 16.2
Broadline Retail 1.7 - 0.6 2.3 3.7 -
Machinery 0.6 - 0.5 1.1 0.1 -
Healthcare Equipment & Supplies - - 0.6 0.6 0.7 -
Wireless Telecommunication Services - - 0.6 0.6 - -
Automobiles 0.5 - - 0.5 0.8 -
Aerospace & Defence 0.3 0.2 - 0.5 1.2 -
Capital Markets 0.4 - - 0.4 0.9 -
Chemicals - - 0.4 0.4 0.1 -
Entertainment - 0.3 - 0.3 4.1 0.3
Metals & Mining - - 0.3 0.3 - -
Construction & Engineering - - 0.1 0.1 - -
Diversified Telecommunication Services 0.1 - - 0.1 - 0.1
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure ----0.7-
Financial Services ----0.7-
Healthcare Technology ----0.4-
Professional Services ----0.3-
Real Estate Management & Development ----0.3-
Building Products ----0.2-
Specialty Retail ----0.1-
Trading Companies & Distributors ----0.1-
Total investments (£6,846,646,000) 62.9 5.3 25.3 93.5 96.3
Other net assets (excluding loans) 5.9 0.5 1.1 7.5 5.8
Loans - - (1.0) (1.0) (2.1)
Grand total (net assets of £7,324,872,000) 68.8 5.8 25.4 100.0 -
At 30 April 2025 (net assets of £3,804,889,000) 74.8 6.6 18.6 - 100.0
* The classifications are derived from the Benchmark as far as possible. The categorisation of each investment is shown in the portfolio available on the
Company’s website. Where a dash is shown for the Benchmark it means that the sector is not represented in the Benchmark. Not all sectors of the
Benchmark are shown, only those in which the Company has an investment at the financial year end.
Portfolio Review
36
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Top Ten Investments as at 30 April 2026
Ranking
Value of holding
£'000
% of total net
assets
2026
2025 Stock
30 April
2026
30 April
2025
30 April
2026
30 April
2025
1 (1) Nvidia 650,148 342,219 8.9 9.0
NVIDIA
NVIDIA is a US fabless semiconductor company with leading market share in graphics processors (GPUs) used in gaming,
professional visualisation, data centre and automotive. Supported by its CUDA programming model, the company’s GPUs are
critical components in Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms helping to train neural networks.
2 (7) Alphabet 620,791 151,504 8.5 4.0
Alphabet
As the parent company of Google, the company is the dominant provider of Internet search, online advertising, web
applications and tools and its Android (mobile OS) combined with Chrome (browser) and Google Maps have enabled it to
maintain its market leadership during the mobile internet transition.
Taiwan
Semiconductor
3 (6) Taiwan Semiconductor 373,653 153,370 5.1 4.0
Taiwan Semiconductor engages in the manufacture and sale of integrated circuits and wafer semiconductor devices. Its chips
are used in personal computers and peripheral products; information applications; wired and wireless communications systems
products; automotive and industrial equipment including consumer electronics such as digital video compact disc player, digital
television, game consoles, and digital cameras.
4 (5) Broadcom 360,179 162,907 4.9 4.3
Broadcom
Broadcom Inc. is a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies a broad range of semiconductor, enterprise
software and security solutions.
5 (22) Advanced Micro Devices 278,760 38,698 3.8 1.0
Advanced
Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) designs and manufactures semiconductor products, including CPUs, GPUs, and system-on-chip
(SoC) solutions. AMD's GPUs are used for AI applications and CPUs continue to take share from Intel in PCs and servers.
Samsung
Electronics
6 (-) Samsung Electronics 190,947 - 2.6 -
Samsung is a diversified manufacturer of components and finished products for both consumer electronics and industrial end
markets. The company enjoys high market share in memory semiconductors (NAND/DRAM), LCD displays, and smartphones/
tablets.
Apple
7 (4) Apple 177,040 185,568 2.4 4.9
Apple is a leading supplier of personal computers, smartphones, tablets and accessories such as AirPods that feature or
integrate with the company’s proprietary OS X operating system. Other services include AppleTV, Apple Music and its
subscription-based iCloud storage.
8 (3) Meta Platforms 174,315 240,661 2.4 6.3
Meta
Meta is the world’s dominant social networking company. It also owns Instagram, a photo and video sharing social networking
service and the instant messaging service WhatsApp among other products and services.
Intel
9 (-) Intel 160,377 - 2.2 -
Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing units and related products for business
and consumer.
10 (41) Micron Technology 147,064 28,327 2.0 0.7
Micron
Technology
Micron Technology produces memory and storage solutions, including DRAM, NAND flash memory, and SSDs. These products
are critical for AI applications, providing the high-speed data access and storage capabilities needed for training and deploying
AI models.
Top 10 investments
3,133,274 42.8
Portfolio Review continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
37
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Full Portfolio
as at 30 April 2026
Stock Sector Region
30 April
2026
£’000
30 April
2025
£’000
30 April
2026
%
30 April
2025
%2026 2025
1 (1) Nvidia Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 650,148 342,219 8.9 9.0
2 (7) Alphabet Interactive Media & Services North America 620,791 151,504 8.5 4.0
3 (6) Taiwan Semiconductor Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 373,653 153,370 5.1 4.0
4 (5) Broadcom Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 360,179 162,907 4.9 4.3
5 (22) Advanced Micro Devices Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 278,760 38,698 3.8 1.0
6 (-) Samsung Electronics Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals Asia Pacific 190,947 - 2.6 -
7 (4) Apple Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals North America 177,040 185,568 2.4 4.9
8 (3) Meta Platforms Interactive Media & Services North America 174,315 240,661 2.4 6.3
9 (-) Intel Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 160,377 - 2.2 -
10 (41) Micron Technology Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 147,064 28,327 2.0 0.7
Top 10 investments 3,133,274 42.8
11 (-) Sandisk Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals North America 146,798 - 2.0 -
12 (17) Amazon.com Broadline Retail North America 125,836 49,473 1.7 1.3
13 (2) Microsoft Software North America 122,580 258,174 1.7 6.8
14 (29) SK Hynix Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 116,418 35,455 1.6 0.9
15 (45) Elite Material Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 101,805 26,580 1.4 0.7
16 (-) Western Digital Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals North America 98,812 - 1.3 -
17 (-) Lam Research Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 95,914 - 1.3 -
18 (14) KLA Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 91,104 55,399 1.2 1.5
19 (52) ASML Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Europe 86,204 19,613 1.2 0.5
20 (36) Celestica Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America 80,261 31,122 1.1 0.8
Top 20 investments 4,199,006 57.3
21 (32) Ciena Communications Equipment North America 80,230 34,743 1.1 0.9
22 (10) Arista Networks Communications Equipment North America 78,481 69,589 1.1 1.8
23 (-) TTM Technologies Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America 74,149 - 1.0 -
24 (-) Siemens Energy Electrical Equipment Europe 74,090 - 1.0 -
25 (59)
MACOM Technology
Solutions
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 71,750 15,748 1.0 0.4
26 (47) TDK Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 68,471 22,911 1.0 0.6
27 (-) Asia Vital Components Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals Asia Pacific 68,242 - 0.9 -
28 (-) Fujikura Electrical Equipment Asia Pacific 67,969 - 0.9 -
29 (49) Flex Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America 66,234 21,733 0.9 0.6
30 (9) Cloudflare IT Services North America 64,908 79,538 0.9 2.1
Top 30 investments 4,913,530 67.1
Ranking
Value of holding % of net assets
Ranking
Value of holding % of net assets
38
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Stock Sector Region
30 April
2026
£’000
30 April
2025
£’000
30 April
2026
%
30 April
2025
%2026 2025
31 (51) Coherent Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America 64,620 20,150 0.9 0.6
32 (-) Seagate Technology Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals North America 64,362 - 0.9 -
33 (-) Prysmian Electrical Equipment Europe 63,502 - 0.9 -
34 (-) Delta Electronics Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 63,023 - 0.9 -
35 (12) Shopify IT Services North America 61,034 60,224 0.8 1.5
36 (-)
Samsung
Electro-Mechanics
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 60,748 - 0.8 -
37 (28) eMemory Technology Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 54,879 36,688 0.7 1.0
38 (-) Disco Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 53,924 - 0.7 -
39 (-) Ibiden Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 49,713 - 0.7 -
40 (-) Lumentum Communications Equipment North America 49,650 - 0.7 -
Top 40 investments 5,498,985 75.1
41 (24) GE Vernova Electrical Equipment North America 48,259 38,540 0.7 1.0
42 (-) Furukawa Electric Electrical Equipment Asia Pacific 48,073 - 0.6 -
43 (21) Vertiv Electrical Equipment North America 47,961 41,332 0.6 1.1
44 (-) SoftBank Group Wireless Telecommunication Services Asia Pacific 45,557 - 0.6 -
45 (13) Alibaba Broadline Retail Asia Pacific 45,147 58,628 0.6 1.5
46 (-) Caterpillar Machinery North America 43,644 - 0.6 -
47 (-) MPI Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 43,535 - 0.6 -
48 (18) Tencent Interactive Media & Services Asia Pacific 42,775 47,580 0.6 1.2
49 (20) Corning Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America 42,293 42,451 0.6 1.1
50 (70) Hoya Healthcare Equipment & Supplies Asia Pacific 40,660 11,409 0.6 0.3
Top 50 investments 5,946,889 81.2
51 (-) Amada Machinery Asia Pacific 40,092 - 0.5 -
52 (-) STMicroelectronics Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Europe 38,690 - 0.5 -
53 (-)
Monolithic Power
Systems
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 37,676 - 0.5 -
54 (35) Tesla Automobiles North America 36,421 31,138 0.5 0.8
55 (85) Fabrinet Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 34,005 5,550 0.5 0.1
56 (-) Tower Semiconductor Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 33,095 - 0.5 -
57 (-) Hon Precision Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 32,586 - 0.5 -
58 (31) Robinhood Markets Capital Markets North America 31,399 34,817 0.4 0.9
59 (-) FormFactor Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 29,834 - 0.4 -
60 (-) Chroma ATE Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 29,790 - 0.4 -
Top 60 investments 6,290,477 85.9
Ranking
Value of holding % of net assets
Full Portfolio continued
Portfolio Review continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
39
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Stock Sector Region
30 April
2026
£’000
30 April
2025
£’000
30 April
2026
%
30 April
2025
%2026 2025
61 (-) Halma Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Europe 28,441 - 0.4 -
62 (-) Nokia Communications Equipment Europe 27,643 - 0.4 -
63 (33) Crowdstrike Software North America 27,446 34,179 0.4 0.9
64 (-) Accton Technology Communications Equipment Asia Pacific 26,319 - 0.4 -
65 (64) Twilio IT Services North America 25,737 13,980 0.3 0.4
66 (-) Shin-Etsu Chemical Chemicals Asia Pacific 23,039 - 0.3 -
67 (-) Maruwa Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Asia Pacific 22,897 - 0.3 -
68 (72) Affirm IT Services North America 22,463 10,534 0.3 0.3
69 (-) Photronics Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 22,282 - 0.3 -
70 (-) Bloom Energy Electrical Equipment North America 21,847 - 0.3 -
Top 70 investments 6,538,591 89.3
71 (-) Viavi Solutions Communications Equipment North America 21,795 - 0.3 -
72 (-) Mitsui Kinzoku Metals & Mining Asia Pacific 19,958 - 0.3 -
73 (75) SiTime Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 19,739 8,908 0.3 0.2
74 (-) Huber & Suhner Electrical Equipment Europe 19,239 - 0.3 -
75 (8) Spotify Technology Entertainment Europe 18,919 79,947 0.3 2.1
76 (-) Cisco Systems Communications Equipment North America 18,554 - 0.2 -
77 (-) Rolls-Royce Aerospace & Defence Europe 18,487 - 0.2 -
78 (-) Akamai Technologies IT Services North America 16,836 - 0.2 -
79 (-) Globalwafers Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Asia Pacific 15,896 - 0.2 -
80 (-) Zoom Communications Software North America 12,822 - 0.2 -
Top 80 investments 6,720,836 91.8
81 (95) Nlight Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America 12,809 1,003 0.2 0.1
82 (91)
FOCI Fiber Optic
Communications
Communications Equipment Asia Pacific 12,721 2,888 0.2 0.1
83 (-) MongoDB IT Services North America 12,582 - 0.2 -
84 (-) Filtronic Communications Equipment Europe 12,361 - 0.1 -
85 (-) Kajima Construction & Engineering Asia Pacific 11,133 - 0.1 -
86 (92) MEC Chemicals Asia Pacific 10,124 2,871 0.1 0.1
87 (34) Snowflake IT Services North America 8,632 33,248 0.1 0.9
88 (-) Rocket Lab Aerospace & Defence North America 6,971 - 0.1 -
89 (38) Palantir Technologies Software North America 6,955 29,576 0.1 0.8
90 (-) AST SpaceMobile Diversified Telecommunication Services North America 6,825 - 0.1 -
Top 80 investments 6,821,949 93.1
Ranking
Value of holding % of net assets
40
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Stock Sector Region
30 April
2026
£’000
30 April
2025
£’000
30 April
2026
%
30 April
2025
%2026 2025
91 (-) Radware Communications Equipment Asia Pacific 5,937 - 0.1 -
92 (-) MDA Space Aerospace & Defence North America 4,563 - 0.1 -
93 (83) Impinj Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment North America 4,017 5,800 0.1 0.2
94 (19) Axon Enterprise Aerospace & Defence North America 3,576 43,403 0.1 1.1
95 (94) Astroscale Aerospace & Defence Asia Pacific 3,464 2,327 - 0.1
96 (90) Xometry Trading Companies & Distributors North America 3,140 4,442 - 0.1
97 (96)
Cermetek
Microelectronics
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components North America - 1 - -
Total equities 6,846,646 93.5
Other net assets 478,226 6.5
Total net assets 7,324,872 100.0
Note: Asia Pacific includes Middle East and North America includes Latin America.
Ranking
Value of holding % of net assets
Full Portfolio continued
Portfolio Review continued
Environmental, Social and Governance
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
41
42
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
ESG – Corporate Perspective
As an investment trust with a wholly non-executive,
independent Board of Directors we delegate the
operational aspects of running the Company to third
parties, primarily the Investment Manager. However,
the ultimate responsibility to stakeholders lies with the
Board. We recognise that this includes elements of
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance principles
collectively known as ESG) and over recent years ESG has
become ever more important from an impact, risk and cost
perspective across all aspects of the Company.
Despite investment trusts currently having relatively few
regulatory reporting requirements, ESG is important to the
Board and the Manager reports to the Board its assessment
of the portfolio in ESG terms and the associated operations
of Polar Capital. Whilst the Portfolio Managers integrate
ESG considerations into their investment process, they are
not required to have consideration of ESG factors when
reviewing new, continuing or exiting investments; they are
not required to take an investment decision solely on the
basis of ESG factors.
The Board recognises that ESG is an evolving area, and
intends to adopt emerging best practice in its analysis and
reporting in line with regulatory requirements. On pages 14
to 32 the Investment Manager reports their assessment of
the portfolio in ESG terms and the associated operations of
the management house, Polar Capital. Below, we separate
ESG into those areas that we as a Board can have a direct
impact on and those areas where we are reliant on others.
ESG and third-party service providers
The Manager receives assurance on an annual basis that,
where required, third-party service providers comply with
the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act and adhere
to a zero-tolerance policy to bribery and corruption.
Considering the growing requirements surrounding
ESG, third-party service providers have been engaged in
providing copies of their ESG, Diversity and Inclusion and
other related policies to the Company. The Board, via the
Company Secretary and Manager will continue to monitor
the practices of service providers and seek to assure itself
that suitable policies and procedures are in place.
Corporate responsibility
The Company’s core investment and administrative
activities are undertaken by its Investment Manager which
aims to limit the use of non-renewable resources and
reduce waste where possible. The Investment Manager has
a corporate ESG policy, which is available in the document
library of the Company’s website and wherever possible
and appropriate, the parameters of such are considered
and adopted by the investment team in relation to the
Company’s management and portfolio construction.
The Board monitors the Investment Manager’s approach
to ESG including policies for improving their impact on
the environment, and they themselves take into account
ESG factors in the management of the Company. The
Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’
Reports) Regulations 2013 require companies listed on the
Main Market of the London Stock Exchange to report on
the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for which they are
responsible and make appropriate disclosures under the
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting regulations. The
Company is an investment trust, with neither employees
nor premises, nor has it any financial or operational control
of the assets which it owns. Consequently, it has no energy
usage or GHG emissions to report from its operations
nor does it have responsibility for any other emissions.
Information on the GHG emissions of the Investment
Manager can be found within the ESG and Sustainability
area of their website www.polarcapital.co.uk.
Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD)
The Company notes the TCFD recommendations on
climate-related financial disclosures. Whilst TCFD is
currently not applicable to the Company, the Manager
has produced a product level report on the Company
in accordance with the FCA’s rules and guidance
regarding the disclosure of climate-related financial
information consistent with TCFD Recommendations
and Recommended Disclosures. The report can be found
within the corporate information section of the Company’s
website: www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
The Board will continue to work alongside its Investment
Manager to provide more information as it becomes
available. Polar Capital supports TCFD’s recommendations
and is in the process of applying the guidance to ensure
compliance going forward.
Diversity Policy and Gender Reporting
The Company has no employees and the Board is comprised
of three female and three male independent non-executive
Directors. The Board recognises the structure, size and
composition, including the skills, knowledge, gender,
ethnicity and experience of Directors, is sufficient for the
effective direction and control of the Company.
The Board is mindful of the importance of having a suitably
mapped board succession and renewal process in line with
corporate governance best practice and the Nomination
This report forms part of the Strategic Report section
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
43
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Committee keeps succession planning under review. As
reported in the Chair’s Statement, the Board continues
to work on succession planning as some Directors will
approach their nine year tenure on the Board within the
next two years. Further information can be found in the
Report of the Nomination Committee on page 85.
The Board will continue to consider the benefits of diversity
throughout any recruitment process, especially when
compiling a shortlist of candidates and selecting individuals
for interview in order to ensure a wide group of candidates.
The Board has taken care to take account of this when
developing job specifications. We are acutely aware that
not doing so could mean we do not attract candidates
who support the Board as a whole to function as best it
can. The Board’s Diversity Policy is discussed further in the
Corporate Governance Report on page 72.
The Company has not adopted a policy on human rights as
it has no employees or operational control of its assets.
Modern Slavery Act
As an investment company, the Company does not provide
goods or services in the normal course of business and
does not have any customers. Accordingly, the Company
does not consider that it falls within the scope of the
Modern Slavery Act 2015 and therefore does not meet the
criteria requiring it to produce a statement under the Act.
The Company considers its supply chains to be of low risk
as its suppliers are typically professional advisers.
A statement by the Manager under the Act has been
published on their website.
Anti-bribery, corruption and tax evasion
The Board has adopted a zero-tolerance policy (which is
available on the Company’s website) to bribery, corruption
and the facilitation of tax evasion in its business activities.
The Board uses the principles of the policies formulated and
implemented by the Investment Manager and expects the
same standard of zero-tolerance to be adopted by third-
party service providers. The Company has implemented
a Conflicts of Interest policy to which the Directors must
adhere, in the event of divergence between the Investment
Manager’s policy and the Company’s policy the Company’s
policy shall prevail. The Company is committed to acting
with integrity and in the interests of Shareholders at
all times.
Risk and Responsibility
The Board has a schedule of principal risks and
uncertainties and addresses how these are mitigated
on pages 57 to 60; additionally how the Directors have
undertaken their duties in compliance with s172 of the
Companies Act 2006 is provided on pages 61 to 65.
Catherine Cripps
Chair
9 July 2026
44
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Statement
The Company does not use a UK sustainability investment
label pursuant to the FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure
Requirements and Labelling Regime. Sustainability
labels help investors find products that have a specific
sustainability goal. The Company does not use a
sustainability label because it does not have a sustainability
investment objective and does not commit to investing a
minimum proportion of its assets in companies that display
environmental and/or social characteristics.
Investment Policy and Strategy
The Investment Manager integrates the consideration of
environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into its
investment process for the Company in three steps:
1. exclusionary screening;
2. ESG analysis; and
3. stewardship
Each of these steps is described in further detail below.
Please note that they are undertaken in conjunction with
financial analysis carried out by the Investment Manager,
the details of which are not provided in this disclosure.
Exclusionary screens
In accordance with applicable international treaties and
laws, the Company adheres to formal exclusions on
all companies that are linked to the production and/
or marketing of controversial weapons (such as cluster
munitions, anti-personnel mines etc.).
For the avoidance of doubt, the exclusions set out above
do not apply to the Company’s investments in other funds,
whether closed ended or open ended, or to any cash or
cash equivalent investments held by the Company.
ESG Analysis
Typically, the Investment Manager seeks to carry out
ESG analysis on companies on a pre-investment basis in
accordance with the process set out below, although
it may not always be practicable for the Investment
Manager to do so. Where the Investment Manager has not
carried out its ESG analysis on a pre-investment basis, the
Investment Manager seeks to carry out its ESG analysis on a
post-investment basis.
The Investment Manager uses third-party research to
conduct a first pass assessment of the ESG profiles of
companies, including their exposure to, and management
of, financially relevant ESG risks and opportunities in the
industry relative to the companies’ peers.
Prior to investment in a company, the Investment
Manager will screen its performance against norms-
based standards using third party data. The norms-based
standards considered are the UN Global Compact, the UN
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the
International Labour Organisation’s Conventions.
Where the Investment Manager deems risks identified by
third party research and data as significant or material, the
Investment Manager will check the information used by
that third party to make sure it is accurate and timely and
to ensure that it agrees with the third party’s conclusion.
The Investment Manager recognises that limitations of
third-party assessments can include issues around data
accuracy and timeliness, the use of inappropriate peer
groups, lack of coverage and/or a failure to consider the
full context around some ESG issues.
More significantly, third parties do not always reflect
the most material ESG risks and opportunities faced by
a company when considered through the Investment
Manager’s own knowledge and industry experience.
Therefore, the Investment Manager, with the assistance
of an in-house sustainability consultant, conducts its own
proprietary ESG analysis and due diligence on companies
by utilising company filings (including a company’s annual
report, Form 10-K, Form 20-F and Form 10-Q), sustainability
reports, sell-side research, news reports and other sources,
including governmental websites, to inform its view.
Particular attention is given by the Investment Manager to
the company’s involvement in material controversies, legal
proceedings, regulatory issues, data breaches and other ESG
risk factors. The Investment Manager also carries out an
assessment of good governance, taking into account, among
other factors, management structure, employee relations,
staff and executive remuneration, and tax compliance.
However, the Investment Manager acknowledges the
limitation of primary sources by virtue of inconsistent
global sustainability reporting standards, lack of underlying
data quality and availability, the resources of the company
concerned and the lack of availability of primary sources
altogether.
For the avoidance of doubt, no binding criteria is applied to
the outcome of the Investment Manager’s ESG assessment,
and no minimum standards are set for investment or
engagement. The Investment Manager’s ESG analysis
is intended to address material and financially relevant
ESG risks and not to improve the ESG performance of
investments.
ESG – Investment Perspective
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
45
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Stewardship
The Investment Manager may, at its discretion engage with
the company to gain a greater understanding of their ESG
philosophy and practices and, where it feels it appropriate,
to encourage improvement.
The Investment Manager may carry out engagements
through meetings, calls, emails, or letters to company
management or ESG and investor relations teams.
The Investment Manager may also exercise its voting rights
in an investee company to encourage an improvement in,
for example, ESG practices or ESG risk management where
it sees fit.
Monitoring and Internal Oversight
The Investment Manager’s Sustainability team, who are
independent of the portfolio management team, carry
out four-monthly oversight meetings during which the
Company’s ESG profile, including its climate risk profile and
norms and controversies profile, is assessed with reference
to third party data.
Metrics
Given that third party data is used as a starting point for
the Investment Manager’s assessment of the Company’s
portfolio and any prospective holdings, the Investment
Manager shall report on the following third party
ESG metrics:
• the ESG Rating of the portfolio;
• the portfolio’s top 5 rated holdings;
• the portfolio’s bottom 5 rated holdings;
• the percentage of portfolio holdings covered by the
Investment Manager’s primary ESG ratings provider;
and
• the ESG rating distribution of portfolio holdings.
Please note that investee companies may not all be covered
by the third party ESG data and ratings provider used by
the Investment Manager. Investee companies that are
unrated by the relevant provider will not be considered
in the top 5 rated holdings and bottom 5 rated holdings
metrics provided and therefore they may not be fully
representative of the ESG profile of the portfolio.
The Investment Manager’s reporting shall contain a
year-on-year comparison (i.e. a comparison of the
current reporting year against the prior reporting year)
for all metrics listed with the exception of the ESG rating
distribution of portfolio holdings. However, the Investment
Manager does not commit to improving any of these
metrics over time and this comparative analysis is provided
for information purposes only.
Further, where the Investment Manager has engaged with
companies on ESG matters over the reporting period, the
Investment Manager may provide information related
to those engagements including, but not limited to,
engagement case studies.
46
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Corporate governance
The MSCI ESG Rating for funds is designed to measure the resiliency
of portfolios to long-term ESG risks and opportunities. The most
highly rated funds consist of issuers with leading or improving
management of key ESG risks. The ESG Rating is calculated as a
direct mapping of ESG Quality Scores to letter rating categories
(e.g. AAA = 8.6-10). The ESG Ratings range from leader (AAA, AA),
average (A, BBB, BB) to laggard (B, CCC). The dashboard allows
the Board to review the ratings of investee companies within the
portfolio and informs discussions between the Board and Manager
at Board meetings. All charts provided below are in respect of the
portfolio as at 30 April 2026 / 30 April 2025.
ESG Dashboard
MSCI
ESG RATINGS
A
CCC B BB BBB A AA AAA
Top Five Rated Holdings 2026
Security Rating Change
Lam Research AAA
Hoya AAA
Nokia AAA
Akamai Technologies AAA
ASML AAA
Source: MSCI
Bottom Five Rated Holdings 2026
Security Rating Change
Photronics CCC
Xometry B
Vertiv B
Hon Precision B
Meta Platforms B
Source: MSCI
* No change data available as rating by MSCI commenced in January 2025.
MSCI ESG Rating
30-Apr-26
Portfolio
Weighted Average ESG Score / Quality Score 6.52
Letter Rating A
30-Apr-25
Portfolio
Weighted Average ESG Score / Quality Score 6.30
Letter Rating A
Top Five Rated Holdings 2025
Security Rating Change
Service Now
AAA
RELX
AAA
Nvidia
AAA
ASML
AAA
SAP
AAA
Bottom Five Rated Holdings 2025
Security Rating Change
Zuken CCC
Astera Labs* B
Harmonic Drive Systems B
Meta Platforms B
Nlight B
77%
32%
29%
79%
Weighted Average
Board Independence
30-Apr-26 30-Apr-25
Weighted Average
Board Gender Diversity
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
47
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
2026
54.5
VERY HIGH HIGH MODERATE LOW VERY LOW
Weighted average carbon intensity
The fund’s holdings have low carbon intensity, based on the weighted average carbon emissions per USD million sales.
MSCI Distribution of Ratings
53% of the fund’s weighted portfolio holdings receive an MSCI ESG Rating of AAA or AA (ESG Leaders) and 6% receive an MSCI ESG
Rating of B or CCC (ESG Laggards).
Voting Record 2026
Category Number Percentage
Number of votable meetings 106
Number of meetings voted 106 100.0
Number of meetings with at least 1 vote
Against, Withhold or Abstain
48 45.3
Source: MSCI, ISS
Voting Record 2025
Category Number Percentage
Number of votable meetings 95
Number of meetings voted 95 100.0
Number of meetings with at least 1 vote
Against, Withhold or Abstain
48 50.5
Vote cast statistics 2026
Number of votes FOR 86.9%
Number of votes AGAINST 9.7%
Number of votes ABSTAIN 0.0%
Number of votes WITHHOLD 3.1%
Number of votes on MSOP 6.8%
Source: MSCI, ISS
Vote Cast Statistics 2025
Number of votes FOR 84.8%
Number of votes AGAINST 11.9%
Number of votes ABSTAIN 0.3%
Number of votes WITHHOLD 2.6%
Number of votes on MSOP 6.1%
0
10
20
30
40
50
AAAAAABBBBBBCCCUnrated
30-Apr-26 30-Apr-25
1%
0% 0%0%
8%
4%
6%
27%
24%
13%
15%
46%
18%
7%
23%
6%
Technology Trust Voting Overview
2025
32.7
VERY HIGH HIGH MODERATE LOW VERY LOW
48
Corporate Governance
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
49
50
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Strategic Report
This report has been provided in accordance with The
Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’
Report) Regulations 2013. The aim of this report is to
provide information to Shareholders on the Company’s
strategy and the potential for such to succeed, including
a fair review of the Company’s performance during the
year ended 30 April 2026, the position of the Company
at the year end and a description of the principal risks
and uncertainties, including both economic and business
risk factors underlying any such forward-looking
information.
Business Model and Regulatory
Requirements
The Company’s business model follows that of
an externally managed investment trust providing
Shareholders with access to an actively managed portfolio
of technology shares selected on a worldwide basis.
The Company is designated as an Alternative Investment
Fund (AIF) under the Alternative Investment Fund
Management Directive (AIFMD) and, as required by the
Directive, has contracted with Polar Capital LLP to act
as the Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) and
Investment Manager (or Manager) and HSBC Bank Plc to
act as the Depositary.
Both the AIFM and the Depositary have responsibilities
under AIFMD for ensuring that the assets of the Company
are managed in accordance with the Investment Policy and
are held in safe custody. The Board remains responsible for
setting the investment strategy and operational guidelines
as well as meeting the requirements of the FCA’s UK Listing
Rules and the Companies Act 2006.
The AIFMD requires certain information to be made
available to investors in AIFs before they invest and requires
that material changes to this information be disclosed
in the Annual Report of each AIF. Investor Disclosure
Documents, which set out information on the Company’s
investment strategy and policies, leverage, risk, liquidity,
administration, management, fees, conflicts of interest
and other shareholder information are available on the
Company’s website.
There have been no material changes to the information
requiring disclosure. Any information requiring
immediate disclosure pursuant to the AIFMD will be
disclosed to the London Stock Exchange. Statements
from the Depositary and the AIFM can be found on the
Company’s website.
Investment Objective and Policy
The Company’s Investment Objective is to maximise long-
term capital growth through investing in a diversified
portfolio of technology companies around the world.
While observing the Dow Jones Global Technology Index
(total return, Sterling adjusted, with the removal of relevant
withholding taxes) as the Benchmark against which NAV
performance is measured, Shareholders should be aware
that the portfolio is actively managed and is not designed
to track any particular benchmark index or market. The
performance of the portfolio can vary from the Benchmark
performance, at times considerably.
Over recent decades the technology industry has been one
of the most vibrant, dynamic and rapidly growing segments
of the global economy. Technology companies offer the
potential for substantially faster earnings growth than the
broader market.
Investments are selected for their potential shareholder
returns, not on the basis of technology for its own sake.
The Investment Manager believes in rigorous fundamental
analysis and focuses on:
• management quality;
• the identification of new growth markets;
• the globalisation of major technology trends; and
• exploiting international valuation anomalies and sector
volatility.
Changes to Investment Policy
Any material change to the Investment Policy will require
the approval of the Shareholders by way of an ordinary
resolution at a general meeting. The Company will
promptly issue an announcement to inform Shareholders
and the public of any change to its Investment Policy. No
changes to the Investment Policy are presently anticipated.
Investment Strategy Guidelines and Board
Limits
The Board has established guidelines for the Investment
Manager in pursuing the Investment Policy. The Board
uses these guidelines to monitor the portfolio’s exposure
to different geographical markets, sub-sectors within
technology and the spread of investments across different
market capitalisations.
These guidelines are kept under review as cyclical changes
in markets and new technologies will bring certain
sub-sectors or companies of a particular size or market
capitalisation into or out of favour.
This report forms part of the Strategic Report section
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
51
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Asset Allocation
Technology may be defined as the application of scientific
knowledge for practical purposes and technology
companies are defined accordingly. While this offers a very
broad and dynamic investing universe and covers many
different companies, the portfolio of the Company (the
Portfolio) is focused on companies which use technology or
which develop and supply technological solutions as a core
part of their business models. This includes areas as diverse
as information, media, communications, environmental,
healthcare, finance, e-commerce and renewable energy, as
well as the more obvious applications such as computing
and associated industries.
The Board has agreed a set of parameters which seek to
ensure that investment risk is spread and diversified. The
Board believes that this provides the necessary flexibility
for the Investment Manager to pursue the Investment
Objective, given the dynamic and rapid changes in the field
of technology, while maintaining a spread of investments.
Market Parameters
With current and foreseeable investment conditions, the
Portfolio will be invested in accordance with the Investment
Objective and Policy across worldwide markets, generally
within the following ranges:
• North America up to 85%.
• Europe up to 40%.
• Japan and Asia up to 55%.
• Rest of the world up to 10%.
The Board has set specific upper exposure limits for certain
countries where they believe there may be an elevated risk.
The Company will at all times invest and manage its assets
in a manner that is consistent with spreading investment
risk and invests in a Portfolio comprised primarily of
international quoted equities which is diversified across
both regions and sectors.
Investment Limits
In applying the Policy, the Company will satisfy the
following investment restrictions:
• The Company’s interest in any one company will not
exceed 10% of the gross assets of the Company,
save where the Benchmark weighting of any investee
company in the Company’s portfolio exceeds this
level, in which case the Company will be permitted to
increase its exposure to such investee company up to
the Benchmark ‘neutral’ weighting of that company or,
if lower, 15% of the Company’s gross assets.
• The Company will have a maximum exposure to
companies listed in emerging markets (as defined by the
MSCI Emerging Markets Index) of 25% of its net assets.
• The Company may invest in unquoted companies
from time to time, subject to prior Board approval.
Investments in unquoted companies in aggregate will
not exceed 10% of the gross assets of the Company.
Such limits are measured at the time of acquisition of the
relevant investment and whenever the Company increases
the relevant holding.
In addition to the restrictions set out above, the Company
is subject to Chapter 11 of the UK Listing Rules (UKLR)
which apply to closed ended investment companies with a
listing on the London Stock Exchange.
In order to comply with the current UKLR’s, the Company
will not invest more than 10% of its total assets at the
time of acquisition in other listed closed ended investment
funds, whether managed by the Investment Manager
or not. This restriction does not apply to investments in
closed ended investment funds which themselves have
published investment policies to invest no more than 15%
of their total assets in other listed closed ended investment
funds. However, the Company will not in any case invest
more than 15% of its total assets in other closed ended
investment funds.
Cash, Borrowings (Gearing) and Derivatives
The Company may borrow money to invest in the Portfolio
over both the long and short-term. Any commitment to
borrow funds is agreed by the Board and the AIFM.
The Investment Manager may also use from time-to-time
derivative instruments, as approved by the Board, such
as financial futures, options, contracts-for-difference
and currency hedges. These are used for the purpose of
efficient portfolio management. Any such use of derivatives
will be made in accordance with the Company’s policies
on spreading investment risk as set out in this investment
policy and any leverage resulting from the use of such
derivatives will be subject to the restrictions on borrowings.
Cash
The Company may hold cash or cash equivalents if the
Investment Manager feels that these will, at a particular
time or over a period, enhance the performance of the
Portfolio. The Board has agreed that management of cash
may be achieved through the purchase of appropriate
government bonds, money market funds or bank deposits
depending on the Investment Manager’s view of the
investment opportunities and the benefits of diversification.
52
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Strategic Report continued
Gearing and Derivatives
The Company’s Articles of Association permit borrowings
up to the amount of its paid-up share capital plus capital
and revenue reserves. The Company may use gearing in
the form of bank loans which are used on a tactical basis
by the Investment Manager, when considered appropriate.
The Board monitors the level of gearing available to the
Portfolio Manager and agrees, in conjunction with the
AIFM, all bank facilities in accordance with the Investment
Policy. The Board approves and controls all bank facilities
and any net borrowings over 20% of the Company’s net
assets at the time of draw down will only be made after
approval by the Board.
The Company has a three year fixed rate term loan of JPY
15bn from The Bank of Nova Scotia. The JPY loan is fixed
at an all-in rate of 2.106% pa. This loan is due to be repaid
in September 2027. Details of the loans are set out in
Note 17 to the Financial Statements.
The Investment Manager’s use of derivatives is monitored
by the Board in accordance with the Company’s investment
policy and any leverage from the use of such derivatives
will be subject to the restriction on gearing.
Future Developments
The Board remains positive on the longer-term outlook
for technology and the Company will continue to
pursue its Investment Objective. The outlook for future
performance is dependent to a significant degree on the
world’s financial markets and their reactions to economic
events and other geopolitical forces. In accordance with
the Articles of Association, a resolution to continue
the Company was put to Shareholders at the AGM in
September 2025 and was passed. The next continuation
vote will be put to Shareholders at the AGM in 2030. The
Chair’s Statement and the Investment Manager’s Report
comment on the outlook.
Dividends
The Company’s revenue varies from year to year and the
Board considers the dividend position each year in order
to maintain the Company’s status as an investment trust.
The revenue reserve remains in deficit and historically
the Company has not paid dividends given its focus on
capital growth. The Directors do not recommend, for the
year under review, the payment of a dividend (2025: no
dividend recommendation).
Service Providers
Polar Capital LLP has been appointed to act as the
Investment Manager and AIFM as well as to provide or
procure company secretarial services, marketing and
website services which it arranges through Huguenot
Limited, and administrative services, including accounting,
portfolio valuation and trade settlement which it has
arranged to deliver through HSBC Securities Services
(HSS or the Administrator).
The Company also contracts directly, on terms agreed
periodically, with a number of third parties for the provision
of specialist services. The cost of the services outlined
below are paid for directly by the Company and are
separate from the Investment Management Fee payable to
Polar Capital:
• Peel Hunt LLP were appointed as Corporate Broker
from 12 January 2026. Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited as
Corporate Broker (until 12 January 2026);
• Equiniti Limited as Share Registrars;
• HSBC Securities Services as Custodian and Depositary;
• RD:IR for Investor Relations and Shareholder Analysis;
• Camarco as PR advisors;
• Perivan Limited as designers and printers for
shareholder communications; and
• Huguenot Limited as Website Designers and internet
hosting services.
Investment Management Company and
Management of the Portfolio
As the Company is an investment vehicle for Shareholders,
the Directors have sought to ensure that the business of
the Company is managed by a leading specialist investment
management team and that the investment strategy
remains attractive to Shareholders. The Directors believe
that a strong working relationship with the investment
management team will help to achieve the optimum return
for Shareholders. As such, the Board and the Investment
Manager operate in a supportive, co-operative and open
environment.
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
53
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
The Investment Manager is Polar Capital LLP (Polar
Capital), which is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Conduct Authority, to act as Investment
Manager and AIFM of the Company with sole
responsibility for the discretionary management of the
Company’s assets (including uninvested cash) and sole
responsibility to take decisions as to the purchase and
sale of individual investments. The Investment Manager
also has responsibility for asset allocation within the limits
of the investment policy and guidelines established and
regularly reviewed by the Board, all subject to the overall
control and supervision of the Board.
Polar Capital provides a team of technology specialists led
by Ben Rogoff. Each team member focuses on specific
areas while Ben Rogoff, with Alastair Unwin as Deputy,
has overall responsibility for the portfolio. Polar Capital also
has other specialist and geographically focused investment
teams which may contribute to idea generation. The
technology investment team’s biographies can be found
on pages 10 to 11. The Investment Manager has other
investment resources which support the investment team
and has experience in administering and managing other
investment companies.
Management fee
With effect from 1 May 2025, the base management fee
paid by the Company monthly in arrears to the Manager is
calculated on the daily Net Asset Value (NAV) as follows:
• Tier 1: 0.75 per cent. for such of the NAV up to and
including £2bn.
• Tier 2: 0.60 per cent. for such of the NAV above £2bn.
Any investment in funds managed by Polar Capital
are wholly excluded from the base management fee
calculation. Management fees of £35,825,000 (2025:
£30,854,000) have been paid for the year to 30 April 2026
of which £3,565,000 (2025: £2,246,000) was outstanding
at the year end and accrued within the financial
statements.
Under the terms of the IMA, the Board may undertake
a three-yearly review of the fee arrangements, the next
of which will be undertaken in the financial year ending
30 April 2028, with the anticipation that any changes
proposed and subsequently agreed will take effect from
the start of the following financial year. The Board is
however at liberty to review the fees at any time should
they deem it appropriate and in the best interests of
Shareholders to do so.
Longer-Term Viability
In accordance with the AIC Code of Corporate Governance
(AIC Code), the Company is required to make a forward-
looking longer-term viability statement. The Board has
considered and addressed the ability of the Company to
continue to operate over a period significantly beyond
the twelve-month period required for the going concern
statement. The Board has considered the industry and
market in which the Company operates and believes
that despite the market volatility and geopolitical events
experienced during the financial year under review,
there continues to be a strong appetite for technology
investment. The Board continues to use five years as a
reasonable term over which the viability of the Company
should be viewed; Shareholders have the opportunity
to vote on the continuation of the Company every five
years, therefore the outlook for the next five-year period
incorporates the continuation vote which will be put to
Shareholders at the AGM in 2030.
54
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
The process and matters considered in establishing the longer-term viability are detailed within the Audit Committee
Report on page 76. In establishing the positive outlook for the Company over the next five years to 30 April 2031, the
Board has taken into account:
The ability of the
Company to meet its
liabilities as they fall due
The assessment took account of the Company’s current financial position, its cash flows and its liquidity
position, the principal risks as set out on pages 57 to 60 and the Committee’s assessment of any material
uncertainties and events that might cast significant doubt upon the Company’s ability to continue as a
going concern. The assessment was then subject to a sensitivity analysis over a five-year period, which
stress tested a number of the key assumptions underlying the forecasts both individually and in aggregate
for normal, favourable and stressed conditions and considered whether financing facilities will be renewed.
The portfolio comprises a spread of investments by size of company, traded on major international stock
exchanges.
99.6% of the current portfolio could be liquidated within four trading days and there is no expectation
that the nature of the investments held within the portfolio will be materially different in future.
The expenses of the Company are predictable and modest in comparison with the assets and there are no
capital commitments foreseen which would alter that position. The ongoing charges of the Company for
the year ended 30 April 2026 were 0.69% (2025: 0.77%).
Repayment of the bank facility, drawn down at the year end, and due in September 2027, would equate
to approximately 12% of the cash or cash equivalents available to the Company at 30 April 2026, without
having to liquidate the portfolio of investments.
The Company has no employees and consequently does not have redundancy or other employment related
liabilities or responsibilities.
The Company will
propose a resolution on
the continuation of the
Company at the AGM in
September 2030
The Company has within its corporate structure the requirement to hold a continuation vote every
five years. The last continuation vote was passed at the AGM held in September 2025 with 99% of the
votes in favour. While there can be no assurance that the continuation vote will be passed, the Directors
believe that, if the Company delivers positive long-term performance ahead of the next continuation vote,
Shareholders are likely to vote in favour.
Factors impacting the
forthcoming years
The Investment Manager’s Report and the Strategic Report provide a comprehensive review of factors
which may impact the Company in forthcoming years. In making its assessment, the Board considered
these factors alongside the Principal Risks and Uncertainties, and their corresponding mitigation and
controls, as set out on pages 57 to 60.
Regulatory changes Despite the increased level of regulation and the unpredictability of future requirements it is considered that
regulation will not increase to a level that makes the running of the Company uneconomical or untenable in
comparison to other competitive products. Although applicable for reporting in the 2027 annual report, the
Board is already working to clearly document its material controls.
Closed-ended Investment
Funds
Despite high discounts across the sector, it is believed that the business model of being a closed ended
investment fund will continue to be wanted by investors and the Company’s Investment Objective will
continue to be desired and achievable. Notwithstanding this, the Board regularly discusses the risks to the
sector given the rise in shareholder activism and consolidation across the wealth management industry and
has engaged in an active share buy back process to help address the discount to NAV that the Company’s
shares have traded at.
Strategic Report continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
55
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Further, the Board recognises that there has been
significant progress made in the technology sector and
immense change in what is deemed to be a technology
company which broadens the universe for potential
investment. Technology remains a specialist sector for
which there continues to be a need for independent
specialist sector investment expertise. The Board therefore
has a reasonable expectation that the Company will be
able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they
fall due over the five years to 30 April 2031.
Going Concern
The Board has also considered the ability of the Company
to adopt the Going Concern basis for the preparation of the
Financial Statements.
Consideration included the Company’s current financial
position, its liquidity position and its assessment. In addition,
the Company’s cash flows were stressed tested for base case
and reasonable worse case scenarios. Further detail on the
assessment for going concern is provided in the Report of the
Audit Committee on page 76 and in Note 2(a) of the Financial
Statements.
Key Performance Indicators
The Board appraises the performance of the Company and the Investment Manager, as the key supplier of services to
the Company, against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The objectives of the KPIs comprise both specific financial and
shareholder related measures and these KPIs have not differed from the prior year.
KPI Control Process Outcome
The provision of investment
returns to Shareholders
measured by long-term
NAV growth and relative
performance against the
Benchmark.
The Board is aware of the
vulnerability of a sector
specialist investment trust
to a change in investor
sentiment to that sector.
The Board reviews the performance of the
portfolio in detail and hears the views of
the Investment Manager at each meeting.
The Board discusses the market factors
giving rise to any discount or premium, the
long or short-term nature of those factors
and the overall benefit to Shareholders of
any actions. The market liquidity is also
considered when authorising the issue
or buy back of shares when appropriate
market conditions prevail.
At 30 April 2026 the total net assets of the
Company amounted to £7,324,872,000
(2025: £3,804,889,000). The Company’s
NAV over the year to 30 April 2026,
outperformed the Benchmark by 47.2%.
The NAV per share rose by 102.2% from
325.20p to 657.41p while the Benchmark
increased 55.0% in Sterling terms over
the same period. As at 30 April 2026
the portfolio comprised 97 (2025: 96)
investments.
Investment performance is explained in
the Chair’s Statement and the Investment
Manager’s Report. The performance of the
Company over the longer-term is shown by
the ten year historic performance chart on
page 3.
Monitoring and reacting to
issues created by the discount
or premium of the ordinary
share price to the NAV per
ordinary share with the aim
of reducing discount volatility
for Shareholders.
The Board receives regular information
on the composition of the share register
including trading patterns and discount/
premium levels of the Company’s ordinary
shares.
A daily NAV per share, diluted when
appropriate, calculated in accordance with
the AIC guidelines, is issued to the London
Stock Exchange.
The discount/premium of the ordinary share
price to NAV per ordinary share (diluted
when appropriate) has been as follows:
Financial year to 30 April 2026:
• Minimum discount over year: 6.35%
• Maximum discount over year: 13.31%
• Average discount over year: 9.45%
56
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
KPI Control Process Outcome
The Company does not have an absolute
target discount level at which it buys back
shares but has historically bought back
significant amounts of the outstanding
share capital when deemed appropriate
and will continue to do so. This approach
does not preclude a more active approach
as discounts widen and the Investment
Manager may consider that a single
purchase or a series of purchases of shares
in current or greater volumes, which
would enhance the Company’s NAV per
share, would be an attractive investment
of the Company’s cash resources, given
the positive long-term prospects for the
Company’s portfolio. As always, the Board
keeps the level of discount under careful
review and has been buying back shares
actively at levels set out in the adjacent
column.
In the year ended 30 April 2026, the
Company bought back 55,803,823
ordinary shares (representing 4.8% of the
issued share capital) at an average discount
of 10.1%. Subsequent to the year end
and to close of business 2 July 2026, the
Company bought back a further 7,051,976
shares. The discount at close of business on
2 July 2026 was 8.5% Over the previous
five financial years ended 30 April 2026:
• Maximum premium over period: 0.27%
• Maximum discount over period: 19.42%
• Average discount over period: 10.50%
Over the previous five financial years ended
30 April 2026 the Company has bought
back a total of 251,244,444 Ordinary
shares.
To qualify and continue to
meet the requirements for
Sections 1158 and 1159 of
the Corporation Tax Act 2010
(‘investment trust status’).
The Board receives regular financial
information which discloses the current
and projected financial position of the
Company against each of the tests set out
in Sections 1158 and 1159.
This has been achieved for every year
since launch in 1996. HMRC has approved
the investment trust status subject to
the Company continuing to meet the
relevant eligibility conditions and ongoing
requirements. The Directors believe that the
tests have been met in the financial year
ended 30 April 2026 and will continue to
be met.
Efficient operation of the
Company with appropriate
investment management
resources and services from
third party suppliers within
a stable and risk-controlled
environment.
The Board considers annually the services
provided by the Investment Manager,
both investment and administrative, and
reviews on a cycle the provision and costs
of services provided by third parties. The
annual operating expenses are reviewed
and any non recurring project related
expenditure is approved separately by the
Board.
The Board has received and considered
satisfactory the internal controls report
of the Investment Manager and other
key suppliers including contingency
arrangements to facilitate the ongoing
operations of the Company in the event
of withdrawal or failure of services. The
ongoing charges of the Company for the
year ended 30 April 2026 was 0.69% of
the average daily net assets (2025: 0.77%).
Strategic Report continued
Key Performance Indicators continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
57
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
The Board is responsible for the management of risks
faced by the Company and through delegation to the
Audit Committee, has established procedures to manage
risk, oversee the internal control framework and determine
the nature and extent of the principal risks the Company
is willing to take in order to achieve its long-term strategic
objectives.
The established risk management process the Company
follows, identifies and assesses various risks, their
likelihood, and possible severity of impact, considering
both internal and external controls and factors that could
provide mitigation. A post mitigation risk impact score as
well as a risk appetite rating is then determined for each
principal risk.
At each Audit Committee, identified principal risks are
reviewed and reassessed against the backdrop of the
dynamic external environment the Company is operating
in. The Audit Committee carries out a robust assessment
of overall risks and uncertainties faced by the Company
with the assistance of the Investment Manager.
The Committee also identifies any emerging risks during
its review process and continues to closely monitor these
risks as they develop, implementing mitigating actions as
necessary. Emerging risks during the financial year under
review included the uncertainty around the future of the
investment trust sector, continued geopolitical uncertainty
and consequential market volatility.
The Principal Risks post mitigation are detailed on the
following pages along with a high-level summary of
their management through mitigation and status arrows
to indicate any change in assessment over the past
financial
year.
Risk Cycle
Monitoring
and Review
Identify
Risk
Analyse
Risk
Manage
Risk
Build Risk
Strategy
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Principal Risks and Uncertainties continued
Management of risks through Mitigation & Controls
PORTFOLIO RISK
Change during
the year
Failure to achieve investment objective on an absolute or relative basis (including performance
impacts from adverse exchange rate movement in Sterling dollar rates).
Regular reporting and monitoring of the Company’s investment performance against peer group, benchmark
and detailed annual review of investment strategy with Investment Manager.
Clear communication with Shareholders on the investment strategy through annual, half year reports and
monthly factsheets. The Investment Manager also visits large Shareholders and has regular interaction with
clients.
The Investment Manager’s Operations team monitors FX and interest rate exposure of portfolio. Note 27
describes the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.
Portfolio management errors including breach of investment policy.
Investment limits and restrictions are encoded into dealing and operations systems of the Manager to ensure
there is early warning of any potential issue of compliance or regulatory matters. HSBC Depositary oversees all
trades and monitoring against investment limits. The Board monitors the investment limits and restrictions and
would investigate any breaches.
OPERATIONAL RISK
Failure in services provided by Investment Manager (Polar Capital LLP).
Compliance, trading and operational risk oversight by fully resourced and expert Polar Capital
compliance, operations and risk functions. Periodic updates are received from Polar’s operational risk
team in respect of the key operational risks and the associated controls in place.
Accounting / Financial and/or Custody Errors.
Management accounts are produced and reviewed monthly, statutory reporting and daily NAV
calculations are produced by the external Administrator and verified by the Investment Manager.
Accounting records are tested, and valuations verified independently as part of the year-end financial
reporting process.
Failure of Depositary, Custodian, Sub-Custodian or Deposit taker.
Due diligence and service reviews are undertaken with third-party service providers including the
Custodian and Depositary with any exceptions highlighted to the Board.
Unforeseeable natural disaster or other unpredictable event (Black Swan).
The Company has a disaster recovery plan in place along with a Black Swan Committee comprised of any
two Directors, who are able to provide a response to such events as necessary.
IT Failure, Fraud and Cyber Risk.
Annual review of internal control reports from suppliers including cyber protocols and disaster recovery
procedures.
The Board proactively seeks to keep abreast of developments through updates with representatives of
the Investment Manager (Polar’s Chief Technology Officer). Polar Capital has controls in place and has
continued to evolve its cyber defence capabilities during 2025 and Q1 2026 amid a persistently hostile
threat landscape.
Increase
Decrease Unchanged
Strategic Report continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
59
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Management of risks through Mitigation & Controls
REGULATORY RISK
Change during
the year
Breach of Statutes & Regulations.
Polar Capital Compliance and Operations ensure a strong compliance environment and report to
the Board on an annual basis.
There is an independent risk function at Polar Capital. AIFMD limits are hardcoded into Bloomberg and
monitored by the Operations and Compliance teams. The Depositary also monitors AIFMD limits and
reports exceptions to the Board. In addition, the Investment Trust Fund Accountant reports to the Board
on a monthly basis through the Investment Limits schedule.
The Board receives regulatory reports for discussion and, if required, considers the need for any remedial
action. In addition, as an investment company, the Company is required to comply with a framework of
tax laws, regulation and company law.
The Board monitors regulatory change with the assistance of the Investment Manager, Company
Secretary and external professional suppliers and implements necessary changes should they be required.
Failure to effectively communicate significant events to the shareholder and investor base.
Polar Capital Sales Team and the Corporate Broker provide periodic reports to the Board on
communications with Shareholders and feedback received.
Experienced sales and client services team maintain the Company’s website and ensure it contains
documents holding relevant information and presentations from the Manager.
Annual, half year reports and monthly factsheets are prepared by experienced company secretaries
or specialist advisors. Statutory/regulatory documentation is compiled and checked by legal advisors,
auditors or brokers (when necessary) and the Board undertakes a review prior to publication. Once
published, the Chair offers annual meetings with Shareholders.
ECONOMIC AND MARKET RISK
Global geopolitical risk affecting changes in policy regarding taxes/assets, tariffs, trade
agreements (NAFTA, China, Mexico), immigration and political tensions.
The impact on the portfolio from geopolitical changes is monitored through existing control systems such as
the monthly investment limits schedule.
The Investment Manager regularly reports to the Board on geographic influences, the macro economic
outlook and matters of interest in relation to the portfolio and utilises horizon scanning where appropriate.
Uncertainty in regulatory environment.
Potential regulatory change as a result of the changing political environment is closely monitored by the Board
with the help of the Manager, Company Secretary and Corporate Broker.
Increase
Decrease Unchanged
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Management of risks through Mitigation & Controls
KEY STAFF RISK
Change during
the year
Loss of Portfolio Manager or other key professionals by the Investment Manager through
resignation, redundancy or change of control.
The strength and depth of the investment team provides comfort that there is not over-reliance on one
person, with alternative senior technology portfolio managers available to act if needed. For each key
business process, roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear and unambiguous.
Key personnel are incentivised by equity participation in the investment management company. Alistair
Unwin was appointed as Deputy Fund Manager and is responsible for managing the portfolio of the
Company alongside Ben Rogoff, Lead Manager since 1 May 2006.
The Board has insufficient resource and breadth of experience to oversee its operations.
Respected industry recruitment companies are used to source suitably experienced candidates for
non-executive directorships with detailed succession planning and skills analysis driving the recruitment
process at Board level. A Board, Committee and Individual evaluation process is carried out annually and
justification for re-election of Directors is provided in Annual Report to Shareholders.
Increase
Decrease Unchanged
Principal Risks and Uncertainties continued
Strategic Report continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
61
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Section 172 Statement
The statutory duties of the Directors are detailed in s171-177 of the Companies Act 2006. The Board recognises that under
s172, Directors have a duty to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its Shareholders as a whole and in
doing so have regard to the consequences of any decision in the long term, as well as having regard to the Company’s
wider stakeholders amongst other considerations. The fulfilment of this duty not only helps the Company achieve its
Investment Objective but ensures decisions are made in a responsible and sustainable way for Shareholders.
To ensure that the Directors are aware of, and understand, their duties, they are provided with an induction, including details of
all relevant regulatory and legal duties as a Director when they first join the Board, and continue to receive regular and ongoing
updates on relevant good practice, legislative and regulatory developments. They also have continued access to the advice and
services of the Company Secretary and, where deemed necessary, the Directors may seek independent professional advice. The
Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board, as well as the Terms of Reference of its committees are reviewed annually and
further describe Directors’ responsibilities and obligations and include any statutory and regulatory duties.
The Board seeks to understand the needs and priorities of the Company’s Shareholders and stakeholders and these are
taken into account during all of its discussions and as part of its decision-making process. As an externally managed
investment company, the Company does not have any employees or customers, however the key stakeholders and a
summary of the Board’s consideration and actions where possible in relation to each group of stakeholders are described
in the table below.
Stakeholder Group How we engage with them
Shareholders The Directors have considered shareholder engagement when making the strategic decisions during the
year that affect Shareholders, the confirmation of the continued appointment of the Investment Manager
and the recommendation that Shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions to be proposed at the AGM.
The Directors have also engaged with and taken account of Shareholders’ interests during the year.
The Portfolio Manager has held numerous face-to-face meetings and interacted with a number of
Shareholders and institutions in addition to presenting at a number of conferences during the year.
Where appropriate, Directors are invited to attend these conferences to meet with Shareholders and
prospective investors; in addition, the annual Investor Relations dinner was again held in October 2025.
Positive feedback was received from all attendees of the dinner who welcomed the opportunity to
interact with the Board and Manager.
The Chair writes to the Company’s largest Shareholders following the publication of the Annual Report
and Financial Statements offering the opportunity to meet to discuss any matters of interest or concern.
The Company’s next AGM will be held on Monday 5 October 2026. The Board recognises that the
AGM is an important event for Shareholders and the Company and is keen to ensure that Shareholders
are able to exercise their right to attend, vote and participate. Shareholders will also be able to watch
the proceedings of the AGM live via Zoom Conference. Details of how to access the online link are
provided in the Notice of AGM. Shareholders should note that if attending via Zoom Conference will
not be able to cast their vote during the meeting and are encouraged to submit their proxy card in
advance. Once again, we will be inviting feedback from Shareholders and will take this into account
when planning the 2027 meeting.
The Board believes that shareholder engagement remains important and is keen that the AGM be a
participative event for all Shareholders who attend. Shareholders are encouraged to send any questions
ahead of the AGM to the Board via the Company Secretary at cosec@polarcapital.co.uk stating the
subject matter as PCTT-AGM. The investment manager will give an in-person presentation and the
Chair of the Board and all members of the Board will be in attendance and will be available to respond
to questions and concerns from Shareholders.
Should any significant votes be cast against a resolution, the Board will engage with Shareholders.
If
this situation occurs, the Board will explain in its announcement of the results of the AGM the actions
it intends to take to consult Shareholders in order to understand the reasons behind the votes against.
Following the consultation, an update will be published no later than six months after the AGM and
the next Annual Report will detail the impact the shareholder feedback has had on any decisions the
Board has taken and any actions or resolutions proposed. No significant votes against a resolution were
received at the 2025 AGM.
This report forms part of the Strategic Report section
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Stakeholder Group How we engage with them
Relations with Shareholders
The Board and the Manager consider maintaining good communications and engaging with
Shareholders through meetings and presentations a key priority. The Board regularly considers the
share register of the Company and receives regular reports from the Manager and the Corporate
Broker on shareholder meetings attended and any concerns that have been raised in those meetings.
The Board also reviews correspondence from Shareholders and may attend investor presentations.
The Chair has met with Shareholders during the year and responded to comments raised both at the
AGM and via email.
Shareholders are able to raise any concerns directly with the Chair or the Board without intervention
of the Manager or Company Secretary, they may do this either in person at the AGM or at other
events, or in writing either via the registered office of the Company or to the Chair’s specific email
address Chair.pctt@polarcapital.co.uk.
Shareholders are kept informed by the publication of annual and half year reports, monthly fact
sheets, access to commentary from the Investment Manager via the Company’s website and
attendance at events at which the Investment Manager presents.
The Company, through the sales and marketing efforts of the Investment Manager, encourages
retail investment platforms to engage with underlying Shareholders in relation to Company
communications and enable those Shareholders to cast their votes on shareholder resolutions; the
Company however has no responsibility over such platforms. Shareholders who hold shares via
an online stockbroker or platform are encouraged to exercise their vote through their respective
platforms and where possible attend the AGM proceedings. Further information on how to vote
through the platforms can be found on the AIC’s website (www.theaic.co.uk) and in the Shareholder
information section on page 137.
The Company has also made arrangements with its Registrar for Shareholders, who own their
shares directly rather than through a nominee or share scheme, to view their account online
at www.shareview.co.uk. Other services are also available via this service.
Outcomes and strategic decisions during the year
Buybacks
Further to shareholder authority being granted, the Company has the facility to conduct share buy
backs when, in normal market conditions, it is in the best interests of Shareholders to do so. The
Company bought back a total of 55,803,823 shares during the year under review. Subsequent to the
year end and to close of business 2 July 2026, the Company bought back a further 7,051,976 shares.
Gearing
The Company is aware of the positive effect that leverage can have in increasing the return to
Shareholders when utilised. The Company has a term loan in place with The Bank of Nova Scotia,
which expires in September 2027. Consideration will be given to the renewal of or the replacement
of the term loan if it is deemed to be in the best interests of the Company’s Shareholders in
maximising returns. Please see Note 17 for further information. Despite having the term loan in place
the Company held a net cash position of 6.2% at the year end.
Continuation Vote
The Company has within its corporate structure the requirement to hold a continuation vote every five
years. Ahead of each vote the Board, Investment Manager and Corporate Broker seek the feedback of
Shareholders including any concerns, and an indication of whether they were likely to vote in favour of
the Company’s continuation. The last continuation vote was held in September 2025, for which 99%
of the votes cast were in favour, and the next continuation vote will be held at the AGM in 2030.
Section 172 Statement continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
63
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Stakeholder Group How we engage with them
Fees
As reported previously, the Board undertook a review of Management fees during 2025 to ensure
that the Company continues to provide value for Shareholders and remains competitive. Further
details in relation to the fee structure that came into effect on 1 May 2025 can be found on page 53.
Investment
Manager
Engagement
Through the Board meeting cycle, regular updates and the work of the Management Engagement
Committee reviewing the services of the Investment Manager twice yearly, the Board is able to
safeguard shareholder interests by:
• Ensuring adherence to the Investment Management Policy and reviewing the agreed
management fees;
• Ensuring excessive risk is not undertaken in the pursuit of investment performance;
• Reviewing the Investment Manager’s decision making and consistency in investment process;
• Ensuring compliance with statutory legal requirements, regulations and other advisory guidance
such as consumer duty and aspects of operational resilience; and
• Considering the succession plans for the Technology Team in ensuring the continued provision of
portfolio management services.
Maintaining a close and constructive working relationship with the Manager is crucial as the Board
and the Investment Manager both aim to continue to achieve consistent, long-term returns in
line with the Investment Objective. The culture which the Board maintains to ensure this involves
encouraging open discussion with the Investment Manager; recognising that the interests of
Shareholders and the Investment Manager are aligned, providing constructive challenge and making
Directors’ experience available to support the Investment Manager. This culture is aligned with the
collegiate and meritocratic culture which Polar Capital has developed and maintains.
ESG
The Board continued to engage with the Investment manager to understand how ESG has been
integrated into the overall house style, the technology team investment approach and decision
making as well as the methodology behind this. The Board also receives information on how ESG
affects Polar Capital as a business and the technology team in particular.
Management
The Management Engagement Committee has recommended the continued appointment of the
Investment Manager on the terms agreed within the Investment Management Agreement.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Stakeholder Group How we engage with them
Investee
Companies
Stewardship
The Board has instructed the Investment Manager to take into account the published corporate
governance policies of the companies in which it invests.
The Board has also considered the Investment Manager’s Stewardship Code and Proxy Voting
Policy. The voting policy is for the Investment Manager to vote at all general meetings of companies
in favour of resolutions proposed by the management where it believes that the proposals are in
the interests of Shareholders. However, in exceptional cases, where it believes that a resolution
could be detrimental to the interests of Shareholders or the financial performance of the Company,
appropriate notification will be given and abstentions or a vote against will be lodged.
The Investment Manager reports to the Board, when requested, on the application of the
Stewardship Code and Voting Policy. The Investment Manager’s Stewardship Code and Voting
Policy can be found on the Investment Manager’s website in the Corporate Governance section
(www.polarcapital.co.uk).
The Technology Investment Team also use the services of ISS to assist with their own evaluation of
companies’ proposals or reporting ahead of casting votes on behalf of the Company at their general
meetings. In the event that an investee company has share blocking in place, the default position is
to refrain from voting to ensure the ability to trade these stocks if required.
During the year ended 30 April 2026, votes were cast at 100% of investee company general
meetings held. At 45% of those meetings a vote was either cast against management
recommendation, withheld or abstained from. Further information on how the Investment Manager
considers ESG in its engagement with investee companies can be found in the ESG Report on
pages 44 to 47.
Outcomes and strategic decisions during the year
During the year the Board discussed the impact of ESG and other market factors and how the
Investment Manager factors these into its strategy, investment and decision-making process. The
Board receives information on the ratings of investee companies and is able to use this as a tool to
inform discussions with the Manager during Board meetings.
Service
Providers
Engagement
The Directors have frequent engagement with the Company’s other key service providers through the
annual cycle of reporting, site visits and due diligence meetings. This engagement is completed with
the aim of having effective oversight of delegated services, seeking to improve the processes for the
benefit of the Company and to understand the needs and views of the Company’s service providers, as
stakeholders in the Company. Further information on the Board’s engagement with service providers is
included in the Corporate Governance Statement and the Report of the Audit Committee.
Outcomes and strategic decisions during the year
During the year under review, in addition to regular contact and assurance testing that sound
and effective controls are in place from all service providers, due diligence meetings have been
undertaken by the Investment Manager and where possible, service providers have joined meetings
to present their reports directly to the Board or the Audit Committee as appropriate.
In December 2025 the Company was informed by Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited, that they would
be ceasing to provide a market making service in the UK and would no longer be able to act as the
Company’s corporate broker. A corporate broker tender process was undertaken by the Board and
Peel Hunt LLP were appointed as Corporate Broker on 12 January 2026.
Section 172 Statement continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
65
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Stakeholder Group How we engage with them
Proxy Advisors Engagement
The support of proxy adviser agencies is important to the Directors, as the Company seeks to retain a
reputation for high standards of corporate governance, which the Directors believe contributes to the
long-term sustainable success of the Company. The Directors consider the recommendations of these
various proxy voting agencies when contemplating decisions that will affect Shareholders and also
when reporting to Shareholders through the Half Year and Annual Reports.
Recognising the principles of stewardship, as promoted by the UK Stewardship Code, the Board
welcomes engagement with all of its investors. The Board recognises that the views, questions
from, and recommendations of many institutional investors and proxy adviser agencies provide a
valuable feedback mechanism and play a part in highlighting evolving Shareholders’ expectations and
concerns.
Outcomes and strategic decisions during the year
Where possible the Chair and other representatives of the Company have engaged with the
stewardship teams of some larger investors to understand and address their expectations in terms of
board governance, recruitment and diversity. Prior to the Company’s AGMs, the Company engages
with agencies including PIRC and ISS to fact check their advisory reports and clarify any areas or
topics contained within the report. This ensures that whilst the proxy advisory reports provided to
Shareholders are objective and independent, the Company’s actions and intentions are represented
as clearly as possible to assist with Shareholders’ decision making when considering the resolutions
proposed at the AGM.
The AIC Engagement
The Company is a member of the AIC and has supported lobbying activities. Representatives of the
Manager sit on a variety of forums run by the AIC which aids development and understanding of new
policies and procedures. The Directors may cast votes in the AIC Board Elections each year and regularly
attend AIC events.
The Board supported the AIC’s ‘My share, my vote’ campaign and encouraged Shareholders to do the
same by signing the petition on the AIC’s website. The AIC was lobbying government to make a change
in company law to require nominees, which includes retail platforms, to automatically and without charge,
pass on voting rights and information to the underlying Shareholders. We supported this action as we
believe shareholder engagement is important.
Approved by the Board on 9 July 2026
By order of the Board
Kelly Nice, CG (Affiliated)
Polar Capital Secretarial Services Limited
Company Secretary
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Report of the Directors
The Directors, who are listed on pages 8 to 9, present their
annual report, together with their Report on Corporate
Governance and the Audited Financial Statements for
the year ended 30 April 2026. In addition, the attention
of Shareholders is drawn to the Strategic Report Section
(Chair’s Statement, the Investment Manager’s Report,
Strategic Report, and the ESG and Section 172 Statements)
which provides further commentary on the activities and
outlook for the Company.
Introduction and Status
The Company is incorporated in England and Wales as
a public limited company and domiciled in the United
Kingdom. It is an investment company as defined in
Section 833 of the Companies Act 2006, operating as an
investment trust in accordance with sections 1158 and
1159 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 (as amended by
section 42(2) of the Finance Act 2011). Its ordinary shares
are listed and traded on the London Stock Exchange.
As an investment trust the Company’s ordinary shares
are excluded from the FCA’s restrictions which apply to
non-mainstream investment products. The Company
conducts its affairs and intends to do so for the foreseeable
future so that the exclusion continues to apply.
Life of the Company
The Articles of Association of the Company provide that
a vote on whether the Company should continue in
operation be proposed as an ordinary resolution at every
fifth AGM of the Company.
Such a resolution was proposed at the AGM held on
10 September 2025 and was passed with 99% of the votes
cast in favour of continuing for a further five years. The next
continuation vote will be proposed at the AGM in 2030.
Directors
The current Directors of the Company are listed on
pages 8 to 9. All the Directors held office throughout the
year under review. All Directors will seek re-election at
the AGM in October 2026 in accordance with the AIC
Code, with the exception of Tim Cruttenden and Charles
Park who will retire from the Board at the conclusion of
the AGM. The fees paid to the Directors are set out in the
Directors’ Remuneration Report. The Board has considered
the support for the Directors’ re-election and the rationale
for such is set out on pages 8 to 9. The Corporate
Governance report on page 68 provides more information
on the composition of the Board.
Financial Instruments
The Company’s financial risk management objectives and
policies arising from its financial instruments and its exposure
to risk are disclosed in Note 27 to the Financial statements.
UK Listing Rule 6.6.4
UK Listing Rule 6.6.4 requires the Company to include
certain information in a single identifiable section of the
Annual Report or a cross-reference table indicating where
the information is set out. The Directors confirm there are
no disclosures to be made in this regard.
Other information (UK Listing Rule 6.6)
Principal activities
Refer to the Investment
Objective and Investment
Policy on page*.
Directors during the year Refer to pages 8 to 9.
The Company’s registered office,
service providers and auditor
Refer to page IBC.
Fair Balanced and Understandable Refer to page 88.
Board Diversity Refer to page 72.
Corporate Governance Statement
The Report on Corporate Governance on pages 68 to 74
forms part of this Directors’ Report.
Capital Structure
Issued
The Company’s share capital is divided into ordinary
shares of 2.5p nominal value each. At 30 April 2026,
there were 1,373,150,000 ordinary shares in issue
of which 258,946,804 were held in treasury (2025:
203,142,981 ordinary shares held in treasury). As at close of
business on 2 July 2026, the latest practicable date prior to
signing of this report, there were 1,373,150,000 ordinary
shares in issue of which 265,998,780 were held in treasury.
Changes During the Year
In the year under review, the Company bought back
55,803,823 ordinary shares (representing 4.8% of issued
share capital) which were placed into treasury. Since the
year ended 30 April 2026 to close of business 2 July 2026,
a further 7,051,976 shares have been bought back and
placed in treasury. Further details can be found in Note 18
on page 116 to the Financial Statements.
Further information on transferability and the voting rights
attached to these shares can be found in the shareholder
information page 137.
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
67
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Powers to issue and make market purchases
of ordinary shares
The Board was granted authority by Shareholders at the
AGM in 2025 to allot equity securities up to a nominal
value of £2,895,116, representing approximately 10 per
cent. of the then issued share capital, and to issue
those shares for cash without offering those shares to
Shareholders in accordance with their statutory pre-
emption rights. New ordinary shares will not be allotted
and issued at below the Net Asset Value.
The Board also obtained shareholder authority at the AGM
in 2025 to make market purchases up to a nominal value
of £4,339,449 representing approximately 14.99 per cent.
of the then issued share capital, or 173,577,960 ordinary
shares, for cancellation or holding as treasury shares in
accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the
resolution.
The level of the ordinary share price discount or premium
to the Net Asset Value together with internal guidelines
for Major interests in ordinary shares the repurchase or
issuance of new ordinary shares are kept under regular
review by the Board. The Board considers that discount
volatility is unattractive to Shareholders but as a specialist
investment fund, market sentiment can create sustained
discount pressure. With this in mind, the Board has a
pragmatic approach to share buy backs. While there is
no formal discount policy the Board discusses the market
factors giving rise to any discount or premium, the long
or short-term nature of those factors and the overall
benefit to Shareholders of any actions. The Board regularly
considers, in comparison to the sector and peers, the level
of premium and discount of the share price to the NAV
and ways to enhance shareholder value including share
issuance and buy backs.
These powers to issue and make market purchases of ordinary shares will expire at the AGM to be held in October 2026
and renewal of the authorities will be sought at that AGM.
Major Interests in ordinary shares
As at 2 July 2026, the latest practical date, the Company had received notifications from the following Shareholders in
respect of their own and their clients’ interests in the voting rights of the Company:
Shareholder Type of Holding Number of Shares % of voting rights*
Rathbone Indirect 177,241,430 16.1%
Brewin Dolphin Ltd Indirect 99,468,290 9.0%
Quilter plc Indirect 56,997,522 5.2%
* The above percentages are calculated by applying the ordinary shareholdings as notified to the Total Voting Rights of the issued
ordinary share capital at 2 July 2026 of 1,107,151,220 and do not necessarily match the submitted TR1’s.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
The Board is responsible for the corporate elements of ESG
and for ensuring ESG is factored into the investment process.
Details of how ESG is considered and where corporate
requirements are met is provided on pages 42 to 47.
Disclosure of information to the Auditor
The Directors who held office at the date of approval of
this Directors’ Report confirm that, so far as they are each
aware, there is no relevant audit information of which
the Company’s Auditor is unaware; and each Director
has taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a
Director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit
information and to establish that the Company’s Auditor is
aware of that information.
Annual General Meeting
The AGM of the Company will be held on Monday
5 October 2026. Please see pages 135 to 136 for further
information on the resolutions to be proposed at the
meeting.
By order of the Board
Kelly Nice, CG (Affiliated)
Polar Capital Secretarial Services Limited
Company Secretary
9 July 2026
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
The Directors recognise the importance of strong corporate governance. They acknowledge that they are ultimately
accountable to the Company and its Shareholders and are therefore responsible for the good governance of the
Company. The Company has no employees and the Directors rely on third parties to administer the Company and to
provide investment management services. The following diagram demonstrates the governance framework within
which the Company is managed.
Report on Corporate Governance
As an externally managed investment trust, some provisions of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK Code of
Corporate Governance (the UK Code) are not relevant, including those relating to the roles of chief executive, executive
directors’ remuneration, statement of gas emissions and the requirement to have an internal audit function. Therefore
the Board has considered the Principles and Provisions of the Association of Investment Companies Code of Corporate
Governance (the AIC Code) and considers that reporting against the Principles and Provisions of the AIC Code provides
more relevant information to Shareholders.
The AIC Code addresses the relevant principles set out in the FRC UK Code as well as additional principles and
recommendations on issues that are specific to investment trust companies. The FRC has endorsed and confirmed that by
following the AIC Code, boards of investment companies (including those structured as investment trusts) will meet their
obligations under the UK Code.
Statement of Compliance and Application of The AIC Code’s Principles
The Board believes that the Company’s current practices are consistent in all material respects in applying the principles and
complying with the provisions of the AIC Code with the exception of new Provision 34 in respect of material controls. This
new provision is applicable for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026 and the Company will report on this
in the 2027 Annual Report. The Board will continue to observe the principles and recommendations set out in the AIC Code.
The AIC Code’s principles and provisions are structured into five sections: Board leadership and purpose; division of
responsibilities; composition, succession and evaluation; audit, risk and internal control; and remuneration. The Company’s
application of the principles and compliance with the provisions of each section is detailed on the following pages.
Audit Committee
Management Engagement
Committee
Nomination
Committee
Remuneration
Committee
Shareholders
Board of Directors
Investment Manager
and AIFM
Third Party Service
Providers
Chair:
Catherine Cripps
Members:
all independent NEDs
Chair:
Jane Pearce
Members:
all independent NEDs
with the exception of
the Chair of the Board
Chair:
Catherine Cripps
Members:
all independent NEDs
Chair:
Tim Cruttenden
Members:
all independent NEDs
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
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Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Board Leadership and Company Purpose (Principles A-E, Provisions 1-7)
Purpose
The purpose of the Company is to provide a vehicle in which investment is spread across a diversified portfolio of
technology companies which aim to deliver long term capital growth to Shareholders. The Investment Objective
and Policy seeks to achieve this purpose by providing investors with global exposure to technology companies and
sets parameters to ensure the portfolio is diversified and excessive risk is not undertaken. As an externally managed
investment trust, the culture of the Company is consequential of the Board’s diversity, decisions and behaviours which
are aligned with the values and behaviours of the Investment Manager, interaction between the two and engagement
with the Company’s stakeholders. The Board monitors this culture, including the policies and practices it implements to
maintain it.
Board Leadership
The Directors, collectively as the Board, are responsible for leading the Company and the strategic direction of
such and the Board engages various third-party providers to implement the strategy. In promoting the long-term
sustainable success of the Company, the performance of the Company’s portfolio is constantly reviewed through
the lens of value generation for Shareholders through achievement of the investment objective. The engagement
of third-party providers is considered regularly along with the fee rates payable to each. The largest financial
commitment of the Company is with the Investment Manager with whom the Board reviews fees regularly; with
the latest review being undertaken during this financial year. Further detail is provided below in the Report of the
Management Engagement Committee on page 87.
The Company’s performance over the previous ten years can be found on page 3 and how the Board views its duties is
considered in the s172 statement on pages 61 to 65. The Board’s engagement with Shareholders and stakeholders and
how it contributes to strategic decision making is also discussed within the s172 statement.
Participation from both groups is encouraged and the Board can be easily contacted through the Company Secretary. The
Company’s service providers are subject to periodic visits and attend service review and other meetings throughout the
year, ensuring effective engagement. Fulfilling the Investment Objective and the Company’s performance is the focus of
the Board’s primary discussions in meetings, these are also reported on at least monthly.
The Board’s effectiveness, including how it promotes the long-term sustainable success of the Company, is reviewed
annually and is facilitated by an external evaluator every three years. The performance review process is managed by
the Nomination Committee and the outcomes from this year’s performance review are detailed in the Report of the
Nomination Committee on page 85.
Role, Responsibilities and Committees of the Board
The Board has delegated to each of the Audit, Management Engagement, Remuneration and Nomination committees
specific remits detailed within the terms of reference which are available on the Company’s website, but the final
responsibility in these areas remains with the Board. In addition to formal meetings, the Board also holds ad hoc meetings
or creates ad hoc committees (such as the Black Swan Committee) to enact or approve policies or actions agreed in
principle by the whole Board. The Chair of each committee attends the AGM to deal with questions relating to the
Financial Statements and their specific mandates.
Attendance at each of these meetings is disclosed on page 70. Given the size of the Board and that all the Directors of the
Company are non-executive, all members of the Board serve on each Committee, with the exception of the Board Chair
Catherine Cripps who is an invited guest at meetings of the Audit Committee. This encourages unity, clear communication
and prevents duplication of discussion between the Board and the Committees.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
The number of formal meetings of the Board and its committees held during the year ended 30 April 2026 and the
attendance of individual Directors are shown below.
Board &
Strategy Audit
Management
Engagement Remuneration Nomination
2025
AGM
Number of meetings 432111
Catherine Cripps 4 3*2111
Tim Cruttenden 432111
Adiba Ighodaro 432111
Charles Park 432111
Jane Pearce 432111
Stephen White 432111
* Invited guest
Investment Manager
The Board has contractually delegated the day-to-day management of the portfolio to Polar Capital LLP (the Manager
or Investment Manager), directly represented by Ben Rogoff as Portfolio Manager and Alastair Unwin as Deputy Fund
Manager. It is the sole responsibility of the Portfolio Managers to take decisions as to the purchase and sale of individual
investments other than unquoted investments where prior Board approval is required. The Portfolio Manager has
responsibility for tactical gearing, asset allocation and sector selection within the guidelines established and regularly
reviewed by the Board.
The Manager is responsible for providing or procuring accountancy services, company secretarial and administrative
services. The Company Secretary also ensures that all Directors receive in a timely manner all relevant management,
regulatory and financial information. Representatives of the Manager attend all Board meetings in a variety of capacities
including investment management, compliance, risk and marketing, enabling the Directors to probe further on matters of
concern or seek clarification on certain issues.
The whole Board reviews the performance of the Manager in all service disciplines and at each Board meeting, the
Company’s performance against the market and a peer group of funds with similar investment objectives is reviewed.
The investment team provided by the Manager, led by Ben Rogoff, has long experience of investment in technology.
In addition, the Manager has other investment resources which support the investment team and has experience in
managing and administering other investment trust companies.
The Board and Investment Manager work in a collaborative manner and the Chair encourages open discussion and
debate.
Report of The Nomination Committee
Catherine Cripps chairs the Nomination Committee and all independent non-executive Directors are members.
The Report of the Nomination Committee can be found on page 85.
Report of The Audit Committee
Jane Pearce chairs the Audit Committee and all Directors are members with the exception of the Chair of the Board, who
may be invited to attend meetings as a guest. The Audit Committee Report is set out on pages 75 to 79.
Report of The Remuneration Committee
Tim Cruttenden as Senior Independent Director, chairs the Remuneration Committee and all independent non-executive
Directors are members. The Report of the Remuneration Committee can be found on pages 80 to 84. An announcement
will be made in due course in respect of the appointment of a new chair of the Committee.
Report on Corporate Governance continued
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Environmental, Social
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Corporate
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Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Division Of Responsibilities (Principles F-I, Provisions 8-21)
The Chair
The Chair is responsible for the leadership of the Board and works with the Company Secretary for setting the Board
meeting agendas and for balancing the issues presented to each meeting. Open and honest debate is encouraged at
each Board meeting and the Chair keeps in touch with both the Company Secretary and other Directors between Board
meetings. Catherine Cripps was appointed to the Board in September 2021 and appointed as Chair of the Board in
September 2022. The Chair was independent on appointment and continues to meet the criteria for independence.
The Senior Independent Director (SID)
The Board does not have any executive directors; therefore Tim Cruttenden as the SID leads on matters relating to Chair
succession, evaluation and remuneration of the Chair and non-executive Directors. The SID can be contacted via the
Registered Office of the Company. An announcement will be made in due course in respect of the appointment of a
new SID.
Board Responsibilities
The Board currently comprises six non-executive Directors who are all considered to be independent. The Board carefully
considers various guidelines including those of the AIC Code and Companies Act 2006 in determining the independence
of Directors. The Board is satisfied that all Directors are independent from the Manager and are free from any relationships
or factors that could affect their judgement or ability to exercise independent thinking. The Board considers that its
overall composition is adequate for the effective governance of the Company. A formal schedule of matters specifically
reserved for decision by the full Board has been defined and a procedure has been adopted for individual Directors, in the
furtherance of their duties, to take independent professional advice at the expense of the Company. No such advice has
been sought during the year.
The Directors have access to the advice and services of the Company Secretary which is provided in compliance with
the IMA through Polar Capital Secretarial Services Limited. An appointed representative, Kelly Nice, CG (Affiliated), is
responsible to the Board for ensuring that Board procedures are followed and that applicable rules and regulations
are complied with. The Board and Investment Manager operate in a supportive, co-operative and open environment.
The Board acknowledges that PIRC (Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Limited, an independent corporate
governance and shareholder advisory consultancy) within its voting guidelines, recommends voting against the laying of
the Annual Report at an AGM where the Investment Manager provides company secretarial services to the Company. The
Board believe the benefits gained by utilising the services of a Company Secretary provided by the Investment Manager
far outweigh any perceived risk or conflicts in the view of PIRC. The Company Secretary is provided to the Company as
an independent service and the appointed representative acts as an officer of the Company and not an employee of the
Investment Manager when working with the Board and the Company.
The Board has a schedule of regular meetings through the year and meets at additional times as required. During the
year, Board and Committee meetings were held to deal with the ongoing stewardship of the Company and other matters
including the setting and monitoring of investment strategy and performance, review of the Financial Statements, ESG
and considering any shareholder feedback. The level of share price discount or premium to the net asset value are kept
under review along with matters affecting the industry and the evaluation of third-party service providers. The Board
was responsible for considering, reviewing and implementing appropriate policies in respect of regulatory changes that
impacted the Company.
The Board continues to consider the Company’s strategy and its relevance to the market and Shareholders as a whole at
each Board meeting and at least one Board meeting per year includes an in-depth focus on strategy. Through this process
the Board supervises the management of the investment portfolio, the work of the Investment Manager, the risks to
which the Company is exposed and their mitigation, and the quality of services received by the Company.
The Nomination Committee seeks to balance the time required, skills, knowledge and experience of individual Directors to
form an effective and efficient Board. Directors may adopt external appointments in compliance with the Board’s conflicts
of interests policy which also considers the time commitment of external appointments.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Directors’ Professional Development
When new Directors are appointed they are provided with an induction course facilitated by the Manager. Directors are
welcome to visit the Manager at any time to receive an update on any aspect of interest or a refresher on the Manager’s
operations both generally and those which are specific to the Company. Directors are also provided on a regular basis with
key information on the Company’s policies, regulatory and statutory obligations and internal controls. Changes affecting
Directors’ responsibilities are advised to the Board as they arise. Directors may also regularly participate in professional and
industry seminars and may use the Manager’s online training resources to ensure they maintain their knowledge.
Conflicts Of Interest
Directors have a duty to avoid a situation in which they have a conflict of interest or a possible or perceived conflict with
the interests of the Company. The Company’s Articles of Association contain provisions to permit the Board to authorise
conflicts or potential conflicts.
The Board has in place a policy to govern situations where a potential conflict of interest may arise, for example where a
Director is also a director of a company in which the Company invests or may invest. Where a conflict situation arises, the
conflicted Director is excluded from any discussions or decisions relating to the matter of conflict. The Conflicts Register
is reviewed at every Board meeting and the Directors are reminded of their obligations for disclosure. No Director has
declared the receipt of any material benefits other than their emoluments and associated expenses in their capacity as a
Director of the Company.
There were no contracts subsisting during or at the end of the year in which any Director had, or had at any time since
the Company’s incorporation had, a material interest that was significant in relation to the Company’s business or to that
Director. All the Directors are considered independent of the Investment Manager and have no relationships or conflicts
which are likely to affect their judgement. The Directors’ interests in the ordinary shares of the Company are set out on
page 83 of the Directors’ Remuneration Report.
Composition, succession and evaluation (principles j-l, provisions 22-28)
Board Composition, Diversity and Recruitment
In accordance with the Disclosure, Guidance and Transparency Rules, the Company is required to have a Diversity Policy.
The Board is committed to considering diversity at all stages of recruitment to the Board and has worked hard to ensure
the broadest range of candidates are found when recruiting new directors. When recruiting directors, the Nomination
Committee seeks to follow the diversity recommendations of the various governance reviews, amongst other factors;
consideration is given to all forms of diversity in order to balance both the expertise on, and the structure of, the Board
and its Committees. Full details of the skills and experience of the Directors can be found on pages 8 and 9. The Board has
chosen to align its diversity reporting reference date with the Company’s financial year end, 30 April 2026.
The Company has met all three targets on board diversity at its chosen reference date: i) at least 40% of a board should
be women*; ii) at least one senior role should be held by a woman*; and iii) at least one board member should be from a
non-white ethnic background, as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
* due to the Company being an investment trust with no employees or executive directors the Board considers senior roles
on the Board to comprise the Chair, the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Senior Independent Director.
As required under UKLR 6.6.6R(9), further detail in respect of the diversity targets as at 30 April 2026 are provided in the
tables below. As an externally managed investment trust, the Company has no executive directors or employees therefore
columns relating to executive roles/management have been omitted from the tables. As per the AIC’s Guidance, the
Company considers the role of Board Chair and Chair of the Audit Committee as senior board positions and the below
disclosures are made on this basis.
Number of
board members
Percentage of
the board
Number of senior
positions on the
board (Chair,
Audit Chair and SID)
Men 3 50% 1
Women 3 50% 2
Report on Corporate Governance continued
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Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Number of
board members
Percentage of
the board
Number of senior
positions on the
board (Chair,
Audit Chair and SID)
White British or other (including minority-white groups) 5 83.3% 3
Minority Ethnic 1 16.7% -
Performance and Re-election
The Board formally reviews the performance of the Directors each year and considers any recommendations of the
Nomination Committee, the deliberations of which take place in the absence of any Board nominee. Directors are required
to stand for election by Shareholders at the first AGM following their appointment to the Board and each Director will
stand for re-election annually.
The rationales for each Director seeking re-election are included in the Board of Directors biographies on pages 8 and 9
and the Chair’s letter which accompanies the Notice of Annual General Meeting at which the re-election resolution is
being put to Shareholders.
When considering Board structure and composition, the Committee seeks to ensure the candidates considered will
enhance the Board and replace or refresh desired skill sets. The Board has a policy to consider diversity and has worked
hard to ensure the broadest range of candidates are found when recruiting new directors.
Further information on the Company’s succession, evaluation and recruitment process can be found in the report of the
Nomination Committee on page 85.
Audit, Risk And Internal Control (Principles M-O, Provisions 29-36)
Internal Controls
The Board has overall responsibility for the Company’s system of internal control, for reviewing its effectiveness and
ensuring that risk management and control processes are embedded in the day-to-day operations which are operated or
overseen by the Investment Manager. The Board, through the Audit Committee, has established a process for identifying,
evaluating, monitoring and reviewing, and managing the principal risks faced by the Company. This is documented
through the use of a Risk Map which is subject to regular review by the Audit Committee and accords with the Guidance
on Risk Management, Internal Control and Related Financial and Business Reporting issued by the Financial Reporting
Council. As the Company has no employees and its operational functions are carried out by third parties, the Audit
Committee does not consider it necessary for the Company to establish its own internal audit function. The Investment
Manager has an internal audit function and shares any findings from the internal auditors which are relevant to the
Company.
Contracts with suppliers are entered into after full and proper consideration by the Board of the quality and cost of the
services offered, including the control systems in operation in so far as they relate to the affairs of the Company.
The Investment Manager has an internal control framework to provide reasonable but not absolute assurance on the
effectiveness of the internal controls operated on behalf of its clients. The Manager is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Conduct Authority and its compliance department monitors the Company’s compliance with the various rules
and regulations applicable to it including the FCA’s rules, AIFMD and GDPR, for example.
The Audit Committee reviews and reports to the Board on the operation of the controls which are embedded within the
business of the Manager and other third-party suppliers. Controls and risk management covering the risks identified,
including financial, operational, compliance, safeguarding of assets, maintenance of proper accounting records and the
publication of reliable financial information are monitored by a series of regular reports from the Investment Manager
including risks not directly the responsibility of the Investment Manager.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Operation of Internal Controls
The process was active throughout the year and up to the date of approval of this Annual Report. However, such a system
is designed to manage rather than eliminate risks of failure to achieve the Company’s business objectives and can only
provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss.
The Board, in assessing the effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls has, through the Audit Committee, received
formal reports on the policies and procedures in operation. Where control failures have occurred an exceptions report
is provided along with mitigations in place to ensure the control is met in future. For the year under review, no material
errors or control failures were identified. The Manager and the key service providers have subsequently provided
confirmation that their control environments continued to operate effectively up to the date of signing these Financial
Statements.
The Board also considers other reports provided by third-party suppliers and ad hoc reports from the Investment Manager
are supplied to the Board as required.
The Manager has delegated the provision of accounting, portfolio valuation and trade processing to HSBC Securities
Services but remains responsible to the Company for these functions and provides the Board with information on
these services.
Remuneration (Principles P-R, Provisions 37-42)
The Remuneration Committee is chaired by Tim Cruttenden and all independent non-executive Directors are members
of the Committee. The Company’s remuneration policy will be put to shareholders for approval at the AGM in October
2026. The policy is detailed within the Report of the Remuneration Committee on page 80 and explains how the policy is
designed to support strategy and promote long-term sustainable success.
The Committee meets at least annually and is responsible to the Board for consideration and recommendations in relation
to Directors’ remuneration. Further details are provided in the Report of the Remuneration Committee on pages 80 to 84.
The Directors are excluded from discussions in relation to their own remuneration.
Kelly Nice, CG (Affiliated)
Polar Capital Secretarial Services Limited
Company Secretary
9 July 2026
Report on Corporate Governance continued
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75
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Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
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Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Audit Committee Report
Introduction from The Chair
I am pleased to present my second report to Shareholders
as Chair of the Audit Committee for the year ended
30 April 2026.
Committee Composition
The Committee comprises all of the independent non-
executive Directors; with the exception of the Chair of the
Board who attends Committee meetings by invitation.
The Audit Committee, as a whole, has competence relevant
to the sector in which the Company operates. Committee
members have a range of financial, investment and other
relevant sector experience, including fund management in
both listed and private equity funds. The requirement for
at least one member of the Committee to have recent and
relevant financial experience is satisfied by various members
of the Committee who are Chartered Accountants and
some of whom are also members of audit Committees
for other public companies. More information about
the Committee members can be found in the Directors’
biographies on pages 8 and 9.
During the year the Audit Committee met three times, with
all members of the Committee attending each meeting.
Committee Role and Responsibilities
The Committee has written terms of reference which
clearly define its responsibilities and duties. The terms of
reference which are reviewed annually by the Committee
and are approved by the Board, is available to view on the
Company’s website, www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
Matters considered by the Audit Committee
during The Year
Risk and Controls
The Committee assists the Board by reviewing risks and
controls on an ongoing basis.
Jane Pearce
Chair of the Audit Committee
Geopolitical and Macroeconomic events
We have continued to monitor the geopolitical landscape,
in particular, the unravelling of the previous world order
regarding security and trade which has resulted in a
more inflationary and volatile environment. The manager
continues to monitor all sectoral and wider financial
implications of any geopolitical events. Further details can be
found in the Investment Manager’s Report on pages 14 to
32. The Committee will continue to monitor the impact of
these events which appear in our assessment of risk and the
ability to achieve the Company’s investment objective.
The Committee regularly reviews the operational resilience
of its various service providers in connection with the
mitigation of the business risks posed by geopolitical
events. The Committee is pleased to confirm that all service
providers have continued to demonstrate their ability to
provide services to the expected level, with no breaks in the
services provided or significant operational failures.
New Regulation and Guidance
Since my last report to you, the Committee has not had
to consider any new material regulations, however it
continues to follow developments in the relevant regulatory
environment and review the outcomes of the FRC’s annual
Audit Quality Reviews and discuss any material findings
with the Auditor. As noted in previous years the Committee
is aware of the revisions to the UK Code and AIC Code of
Corporate Governance, specifically those relating to risk
management, material and internal controls which are
applicable to accounting periods beginning on or after
1 January 2026. The Committee continues to assess the
impact of these changes and will report on any applicable
changes made in the Annual Report for the year ending
30 April 2027 which will be the first report following the
effective date.
This report forms part of the Strategic Report section
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Significant Reporting Matters
Annual Report and Financial Statements
(the Annual Report)
The Board has asked the Committee to once again confirm
that in its opinion the Annual Report as a whole can be
taken as fair, balanced and understandable and provides
the information necessary for Shareholders to assess the
Company’s financial position, performance, business
model and strategy. In doing so the Committee has given
consideration to:
• the ongoing comprehensive control framework around
the production of the Annual Report, including the
verification processes in place to deal with the factual
content;
• the extensive levels of review that are undertaken in the
production process, by the Investment Manager and the
Committee; and
• the internal control environment as operated by the
Investment Manager and other suppliers including any
checks and balances within those systems.
As a result of the work performed, the Committee has
concluded that the Annual Report for the year ended
30 April 2026, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and
understandable and provides the information necessary
for Shareholders and other stakeholders to assess the
Company’s performance, business model and strategy, and
this has been recommended to the Board.
Valuation of Investments
During the year the Committee once again reviewed the
robustness of the Investment Manager’s processes in place
for recording investment transactions as well as ensuring
the valuation of assets is carried out in accordance with the
adopted accounting policies and as laid out in Note 2(f). No
unquoted valuations were held at the Company’s year end.
Existence and Ownership of Investments
During the year the Committee received reassuring quarterly
reports from the Depositary on its work and safe keeping of
the Company’s investments, in accordance with the AIFM
Regulations. No errors have been reported during the year.
Other Reporting Matters
Accounting Policies
During the year the Committee ensured that the accounting
policies as set out on pages 104 to 109 were applied
consistently throughout the year. In light of there being
no unusual transactions during the year or other possible
reasons, there were no changes to currently adopted
policies. There were no new UK-adopted International
Accounting Standards (UK-adopted IAS) or amendments
to UK-adopted IAS applicable to the current year which
had any significant impact on the Company’s Financial
Statements.
Going Concern
The Audit Committee considered the ability of the
Company to adopt the Going Concern basis for the
preparation of the Financial Statements. Having reviewed
the Company’s financial position, the Committee is satisfied
that it is appropriate for the Board to prepare the Financial
Statements for the year ended 30 April 2026 on a going
concern basis.
The Committee’s review of the Company’s financial position
included:
• Consideration of the current cash and debt ratios of
the Company; the ability to repay outstanding bank
facilities with 12% cash equivalents readily available to
the Company as at 30 April 2026; the diversification
of the portfolio; and the analysis of portfolio liquidity,
which estimated liquidation of 99.6% of the portfolio
within four trading days. The Committee is mindful of
the economic outlook, geopolitical landscape (as outlined
above) and the longer term impact this may have on the
global economy, the portfolio and the sector in which the
Company operates. These risks continue to be monitored
through the Company’s risk map and are supplemented
with horizon scanning where applicable; and
• The Company’s financial performance during the year
under review, the lack of impact on dividend income
received and there being no exposure to unquoted
assets at the year-end.
The last continuation vote was passed at the AGM held in
September 2025 with 99% of the votes in favour.
Viability Statement
The Committee considered the Company’s longer-term
viability, with reference to the FRC’s Guidance on Risk
Management, Internal Control and Related Financial and
Business Reporting, and concluded that the Board may state
its reasonable expectation that the Company will be able to
continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due
over the period of their assessment.
The assessment took account of the Company’s current
financial position, its cash flows and its liquidity position,
the principal risks as set out on pages 57 to 60 and the
Committee’s assessment of any material uncertainties
and events that might cast significant doubt upon the
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Audit Committee Report continued
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Environmental, Social
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Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
The assessment was then subject to a sensitivity analysis
projected over a five-year period, which tested a number
of the key assumptions including income and expenditure
underlying the forecasts both individually and in aggregate
for normal, favourable and stressed conditions. In
conducting the stress tests, the Company’s principal risks
such as failure to achieve the investment objective, global
geopolitical risk, black swan events and IT Failure, fraud and
cyber risk were grouped into three buckets according to
their post mitigation scores and, where possible, material
values were attached to the key risks materialising and
evaluated to assess the effect of this on the Company’s
ability to continue as a going concern and its viability over a
five-year period. The Committee recommended to the Board
that the Company’s longer term prospects to continue
its operations and meet its expenses and liabilities as they
fall due over the next five years to 30 April 2031 were
reasonable. See pages 53 to 55 for further details.
Taxation and Expenses
The Committee sought to ensure that the Company
was compliant with section 1158 of the Corporation Tax
Act 2010 throughout the year, by seeking and receiving
confirmation that the Company continues to meet the
eligibility conditions. In the year under review, Grant
Thornton LLP provided services to the Company as tax
agents in Taiwan and Arkk Solutions provided the iXBRL
conversion of the Company’s accounts for submission to
HM Revenue and Customs
At the Audit Committee meeting in May 2026, the
Committee considered the allocation of expenses between
capital and income and agreed to continue with the
Company’s stated accounting policy of allocating the
indirect costs to revenue, in line with market practice and
permitted by the AIC SORP (Statement of Recommended
Practice).
Interim Report and Financial Statements
The Committee considered and reviewed the Interim Report
and Financial Statements, which are not audited or reviewed
by the external Auditor, to ensure that they remained
consistent with the accounting policies used in the annual
Financial Statements.
Internal Controls and Risk Management
The Board has ultimate responsibility for the management
of risk throughout the Company and has asked the Audit
Committee to assist in maintaining an effective internal
control environment. The Company maintains a Risk Map
which seeks to identify, monitor and control principal
risks as well as identifying emerging risks. At each Audit
Committee meeting, the Committee reviews the Risk Map
to identify the principal and emerging risks facing the
business including those that might threaten its business
model, future performance, liquidity and reputation.
Alongside this, the Committee considers the likelihood,
impact, mitigating factors and controls to reduce the impact
of such risks as described on pages 57 to 60. Any material
changes to the Risk Map are proposed to the Board for
consideration and if appropriate, adoption.
Furthermore, the Audit Committee discusses and assesses
emerging risks and where appropriate, recommends
changes to the Risk Map, as well as thinking of different
ways of illustrating the level of risk faced by the business.
The Committee will actively continue to monitor the system
of internal controls through the regular review of the Risk
Map and the internal control environment in order to
provide assurance that they operate as intended and that
the Risk Map reflects developing and new risks.
As part of the year end process the Audit Committee
undertook a review of the effectiveness of the system
of internal controls taking into account any issues that
had arisen during the course of the year. The Committee
acknowledges that the Company is reliant on the systems
utilised by external suppliers. Representatives of the
Investment Manager reported to the Committee on the
system of internal controls in place for the performance
of the Investment Manager’s duties under the Investment
Management Agreement. Presentations and internal
control reports were also received from other key
suppliers on the quality and effectiveness of the services
provided to the Company. In addition, employees of the
Manager conducted an onsite due diligence visit with
HSBC in September 2025 where they received thorough
presentations from representatives covering the work of the
Operations, Risk Administration and Accounting Teams, in
addition to the Custodian and Depositary.
No matters of concern were raised within the internal
controls reports.
The Audit Committee has reviewed the Investment
Manager’s policies on whistleblowing, anti-bribery and the
Modern Slavery Act and is satisfied that the Investment
Manager has controls and monitoring processes in place
to implement their policies across the main contractors
which supply goods and services to the Investment
Manager and the Company. The Company has adopted
an Anti-Corruption policy which incorporates Anti-Bribery,
Anti-Slavery and the Corporate Criminal Offence of Tax
Evasion. In addition to this the Company has issued a data
privacy notice in relation to the General Data Protection
78
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Regulation. All such policies can be found on the Company’s
website www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk.
There were no issues of concern arising from the reviews of
the internal controls environment the Company relied upon
during the course of the year ended 30 April 2026.
External Auditor
The Committee, on behalf of the Board, is responsible
for overseeing the relationship with the external Auditor,
including ensuring the quality and robustness of the audit.
Appointment and Tenure
Following a formal and competitive tender process, KPMG
LLP (KPMG) was appointed as the Company’s external
Auditor with their first year as the Company’s Auditor being
the year ended 30 April 2018. KPMG continues to be the
Company’s Auditor with Richard De La Rue as audit partner
since 2025.
In accordance with current legislation, the Company is
required to tender the external audit no later than for the
financial year ending 30 April 2028, after ten full audit years
by the incumbent auditor. However, the Committee keeps
the external audit function under review and may choose
to undertake an audit tender process earlier than prescribed
should it be deemed in the best interests of Shareholders.
The re-appointment of KPMG as Auditor to the Company
will be submitted for shareholder approval at the AGM to be
held in October 2026, together with a separate resolution
to authorise the Directors to set the remuneration of the
Auditor.
The Company has complied throughout the year ended
30 April 2026 with the provisions of the Statutory Audit
Services Order 2014, issued by the Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA Order). There are no contractual obligations
restricting the choice of external auditor. The external
Auditor is invited to all Committee meetings and receives
copies of all relevant papers and meeting minutes.
The Audit
The scope of the annual external audit was agreed in
advance with the Committee with a focus on areas of
audit risk and the appropriate level of audit materiality.
The Auditor reported to the Audit Committee on the
results of the audit work and highlighted any issues which
were significant or material in the context of the Financial
Statements. There were no adverse matters brought to the
Audit Committee’s attention in respect of the financial year
2026 which were material or significant or which should be
brought to Shareholders’ attention.
Effectiveness
The Audit Committee monitored and evaluated
the effectiveness of the Auditor under the terms of
their appointment based on an assessment of their
performance, qualification, knowledge, expertise and
resources. The Auditor’s effectiveness was also considered
along with other factors such as audit planning and
interpretations of accounting standards. This evaluation
has been carried out throughout the year by meetings
held with the Auditor, by review of the audit process and
by comments from the Investment Manager and others
involved in the audit process.
The representatives of the Auditor are provided with an
opportunity to address the Committee and independently,
the Audit Chair, without the Investment Manager present
to raise any concerns, or discuss any matters relating to the
audit work, the cooperation of the Investment Manager and
others in providing any information and the quality of that
information including the timeliness in responding to audit
requests. No concerns were raised by the Auditor or the
Audit Committee in relation to the service provided by the
Investment Manager or any other third-party service provider.
Independence
To fulfil the Committee’s responsibility regarding the
independence of the Auditor, the Committee reviewed the
senior staffing for the audit, the Auditor’s arrangements
concerning any conflicts of interest, the extent of any non-
audit services, the Auditor’s independence statement and
any other issues that may affect the Auditor’s independence.
Subsequent to the review, the Audit Committee concluded
that the Auditor remained independent and continued to
act in an independent manner.
Fees
As part of the year end audit, the Committee considered
and re-confirmed the level of fees pre-agreed and payable to
the Auditor bearing in mind the nature of the audit and the
quality of services received. The annual audit fee for the year
was £84,000 (2025: £82,000). The fee represents a minor
inflationary increase on the prior year.
Non-Audit Services
The Audit Committee’s policy on the provision of non-audit
services by the Auditor’s is available on the Company’s
website. The policy was produced in line with the FRC
Ethical Standards and any non-audit services are required to
be pre-approved by the Audit Committee. KPMG LLP were
appointed to undertake their first annual audit for the year
ended 30 April 2018 and have not provided any non-audit
services to the Company in the year under review, or in the
previous year.
Audit Committee Report continued
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79
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Effectiveness of The Committee
The services provided to the Board by the Committee were
reviewed during the year as part of the Board Performance
Review.
It was noted that the Audit Committee plays a crucial role in
overseeing the Company’s financial reporting and internal
controls. It was highlighted that the Committee benefits
from the Chair’s extensive experience as a Chartered
Accountant, technology equity research analyst and NED
within the Investment Company sector. The Committee’s
effectiveness was further demonstrated by the unqualified
audit reports received for the financial years ending 30 April
2023, 2024 and 2025, indicating robust financial oversight
and governance.
Additionally, the diverse expertise of the Board members,
including backgrounds in investment management, risk
assessment, and financial analysis, contributes to the
Committee’s comprehensive approach to audit and risk
management. It was also noted that the Audit Committee
has carefully and professionally overseen all processes
related to the preparation of the annual report and
accounts.
Jane Pearce
Chair of the Audit Committee
9 July 2026
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Directors’ Remuneration Report
Introduction
This report is submitted in accordance with the Large and
Medium-Sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and
Reports) (Amendment) Regulation 2013 (the Regulations),
The Companies (Directors’ Remuneration Policy and Directors’
Remuneration Report) Regulations 2019 and the Listing Rules
of the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of the year
ended 30 April 2026. It has been audited where indicated.
Chair’s Report
The Remuneration Committee is Chaired by Tim Cruttenden
who is also the Senior Independent Director (SID). An
announcement will be made in due course in respect of the
appointment of a new chair of the Committee.
The Remuneration Committee (the Committee) comprises
all the independent non-executive Directors and has written
terms of reference, which are available to view on the
Company’s website, www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.
co.uk. The terms of reference clearly define the Committee’s
responsibilities and duties.
The Committee meets at least annually and is responsible
for recommending the framework for the remuneration
of Directors, including the ongoing appropriateness of
the Remuneration Policy and the individual remuneration
of Directors based on their contributions. The Committee
aims to pay fees relative to other companies in the
sector commensurate with the responsibilities and time
commitments of the Board. On at least an annual basis
and within the current year, we considered the time and
commitment required of the Directors and of the Chair of
the Board. The remuneration review carried out in May
2026 is detailed on page 81.
Remuneration Policy
Shareholders approved the current Directors’ Remuneration
Policy by way of an ordinary resolution passed at the
AGM in September 2023. Such Policy came into effect on
1 May 2024 and shall remain in force until 30 April 2027.
Tim Cruttenden
Senior Independent
Director and Chair of the
Remuneration Committee
Company’s Policy on Directors’ Remuneration
How policy supports strategy and
promotes long term sustainable success
Operation Opportunity
The Board consists entirely of
independent non-executive
Directors, who meet regularly to deal
with the Company’s affairs.
The intention is that fees payable
reflect the time spent by them
individually and collectively, be
of a level appropriate to their
responsibilities and be in line with
market practice, sufficient to enable
candidates of high calibre to be
recruited and retained.
Non-executive Directors have formal
letters of appointment and their
remuneration is determined by the
Board within the limits set by the
Articles of Association.
Fees are reviewed annually but the
review will not necessarily result in
any change to rates. No Director
is involved in deciding their own
remuneration level.
Non-executive Directors are appointed
initially for a three-year term, subject
to annual re-election by Shareholders
in accordance with the AIC Code.
All fees are paid by credit transfer
monthly in arrears, to the Director
concerned.
The Company’s policy in relation to fees is to offer only
a fixed basic fee in line with equivalent roles within the
sector with additional fees for the roles of Chair of the
Company, Chair of the Audit Committee and SID.
In accordance with the Company’s Articles of
Association, any Director who performs, or undertakes
to perform, services which the Directors consider go far
beyond the ordinary duties of a Director, may be paid
such additional remuneration (whether by way of fixed
sum, bonus, commission, participation in profits or
otherwise) as the Directors may determine.
In such instances, when the Remuneration Committee
believes that there have been exceptional circumstances
and a Director’s services have been substantially
beyond what is typically expected, the Remuneration
Committee will authorise a payment to a Director and
provide details of the events, duties and responsibilities
that gave rise to such within the Remuneration
Implementation Report. No such additional
remuneration was paid in 2026 or 2025.
As the Company is an investment
trust and all Directors are non-
executive, it is considered
inappropriate to have any long-term
incentive schemes or benefits.
Non-executive Directors do not
receive any bonus, nor do they
participate in any long-term incentive
schemes or pension schemes.
There are no performance conditions relating to non-
executive Directors fees.
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
81
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
As the current Remuneration Policy will expire on 30 April 2027, the Company is required to seek Shareholder approval
for a Remuneration Policy that can remain in operation for the next three-year period (unless proposed for change
within such period). The Policy being proposed is unchanged from that which was approved in 2023 and if approved by
Shareholders, the Remuneration Policy will remain in force until 30 April 2030.
As per previous AGM resolutions Shareholders will be asked to consider a non-binding vote for the approval of the
Directors’ Remuneration Report which reports on how the current policy has operated during the year to 30 April 2026.
The result of the Shareholder vote on the Remuneration Policy submitted to the 2025 Annual General Meeting and the
latest Directors’ Remuneration Report were as follows:
Implementation Report
for the Year ended
30 April 2025
Remuneration policy
for the three years
ended on 30 April 2027
Votes for 99.75% of votes cast 99.89% of votes cast
Votes against 0.25% of votes cast 0.11% of votes cast
Votes withheld 6,950,032 28,035
2025/26 Fees Paid
In the year under review the Directors’ fees were paid
at the following annual rates, the Chair £67,200; other
Directors £37,000 with the Chair of the Audit Committee
receiving an extra £9,000 and the Senior Independent
Director receiving an extra £4,200 for performing such
additional roles.
Fee Review
The Committee carries out an annual review of fees paid to
the Directors. While such a review will not necessarily result
in any change to the rates, the Committee believes that
it is important that these reviews happen annually. The
Committee usually favours modest annual increases rather
than larger increases awarded at longer intervals.
In May 2026, the Committee carried out a review of
Directors’ remuneration which included a selection of peer
comparisons and external reports including the Nurole
Compensation Report and the Trust Associates 2025 Fee
Review. No external remuneration consultant was used.
Consideration was also given to the rise in inflation and
the retail price index since the last change in Directors’
fees and the increased level of input and responsibility
the members of the Board has in relation to enhanced
regulations and requirements. As a result, the Committee
decided to implement the following increases with effect
from 1 May 2026:
Chair of the Board
The annual fee for the Chair of the Board has been
increased from £67,200 to £69,500. This is an increase of
3.4% year-on-year.
Directors
The annual fee for a non-executive Director has been
increased from £37,000 to £38,250, representing a 3.4%
increase. Directors’ fees for the year ending 30 April 2026
total £265,400. The maximum aggregate amount provided
for in the Company’s Articles of Association (the Articles),
Article 99 is £350,000.
The Board remains committed to ongoing shareholder
dialogue and any views expressed by Shareholders on
the fees being paid to Directors would be taken into
consideration by the Remuneration Committee in the
annual review of Directors’ fees. No such views have
been received from Shareholders. The Directors did not
participate in discussions on the fees applicable to their
own roles.
Chair of Audit Committee and Senior
Independent Director
The supplement for the Chair of the Audit Committee
increased by c.2.8% to £9,250 (2025: £9,000) to bring
this in line with those of peers and to reflect the additional
time required in connection with audit regulation, whilst
the supplement for the Senior Independent Director
increased by c.1.2% to £4,250 (2025: £4,200).
Other Fees and Incentives
As the Company is an investment trust it has no executive
Directors or employees and as all the Directors are non-
executive, it is considered inappropriate to have any long
term incentive schemes. The fees are not specifically
related to the Directors’ performance, either individually or
collectively.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
The Directors are entitled to be reimbursed for reasonable
expenses incurred by them in connection with the
performance of their duties and attendance at Board and
General Meetings. In certain circumstances, under HMRC
rules, travel and other out of pocket expenses reimbursed
to the Directors may be considered as taxable benefits.
The taxable expenses, for example, comprise of expenses
incurred by the Directors attending Board and other
meetings held in London. Such expenses are paid to the
Directors grossed up for taxation and shown in the taxable
column of the Directors remuneration table.
Letters of Appointment
In accordance with recommended practice, the Directors
do not have service agreements but instead each
Director has received a letter setting out the terms
of their appointment under which they provide their
services to the Company. Following the financial year,
the Directors’ letters of appointment were reviewed and
updated to ensure they reflect current regulation and best
practice. There were no changes to the primary terms of
appointment. A sample equivalent to the Directors’ Letter
of Appointment is available on the Company’s website.
A Director may resign by giving one month’s notice in
writing to the Board at any time. The Directors are not
entitled to payment for loss of office.
In accordance with the Articles, any new Director is
required to stand for election at the first AGM following
their appointment, and in accordance with good corporate
governance practice all Directors stand for re-election by
Shareholders every year thereafter.
Directors’ And Officers’ Liability Insurance /
Indemnity
Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance is held by the
Company in respect of the Directors. The Company has, to
the extent permitted by law and the Company’s Articles,
provided each Director with a Deed of Indemnity which,
subject to the provisions of the Articles and s234 of the
Companies Act 2006 ‘qualifying third party indemnity
provisions’, indemnifies the Directors in respect of costs
which they may incur relating to the defence of any
proceedings brought against them arising out of their
position as Directors (excluding criminal and regulatory
penalties). Directors’ legal costs may be funded up-front
provided they reimburse the Company if the individual
is convicted or, in an action brought by the Company,
judgement is given against them. These provisions were in
force during the year and remain in force.
Remuneration Implementation Report
Remuneration Paid In The Year Ended 30 April 2026 (Audited)
The fees payable in respect of each of the Directors were as follows:
Year ended 30 April 2026 Year ended 30 April 2025
Director Fixed Fee
Taxable
Expenses
1
Total
Remuneration Fixed Fee
Taxable
Expenses
1
Total
Remuneration
Catherine Cripps (Chair) £67,200 - £67,200 £65,500 - £65,500
Jane Pearce (Chair of the Audit Committee) £46,000 £3,381 £49,381 £44,500 £3,562 £48,062
Tim Cruttenden (Senior Independent Director) £41,200 - £41,200 £40,200 - £40,200
Charles Park £37,000 £288 £37,288 £36,000 - £36,000
Stephen White £37,000 - £37,000 £36,000 - £36,000
Adiba Ighodaro (appointed 3 December 2024) £37,000 £134 £37,134 £14,908 - £14,908
Charlotta Ginman (retired as Chair of the
Audit Committee 31 October 2023)*
- - - £13,239 - £13,239
Total £265,400 £3,803 £269,203 £250,347 £3,562 £253,909
* retired 11 September 2024
Note 1: Taxable travel and subsistence expenses incurred in attending Board and Committee meetings. The Company’s policy is to reimburse Directors for
both non taxable and taxable expenses and for the latter reimbursed amount to be grossed up at the Director’s marginal tax rate so that the net reimbursed
amount equates to the original expenses sum.
Directors’ Remuneration Report continued
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83
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
No pension contributions or other remuneration or compensation was paid or payable by the Company during the year
to any of the Directors. Consequently, the figures shown above comprise the single total remuneration figure for each
Director.
The table below contains the annual percentage change in remuneration in the five financial years prior to the current
year in respect of each Director:
Fee Rates
Year to 30 April
2022
Year to 30 April
2023
Year to 30 April
2024
Year to 30 April
2025
Year to 30 April
2026
Year ahead from
1 May 2026
Chair
£50,000 £55,000 £63,600 £65,500 £67,200 £69,500
+7.5% +10.0% +15.6% +3.0% +2.6% +3.4%
Director’s fees
£31,500 £33,000 £35,000 £36,000 £37,000 £38,250
+5.0% +4.7% +6.1% +2.9% +2.8% +3.4%
Additional fees
Chair of Audit Committee
£7,000 £7,000 £7,000 £8,500 £9,000 £9,250
+16.6% 0.0% 0.0% 21.4% +5.9% +2.8%
Senior Independent Director
£4,200 £4,200 £4,200 £4,200 £4,200 £4,250
+5.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.2%
Directors’ Share Interests (Audited)
Neither the Company’s Articles nor the Directors’ letters of appointment require Directors to hold shares in the Company.
The interests in the ordinary shares of the Company of the Directors in office at 30 April 2026 and 30 April 2025 are as
follows:
Ordinary Shares 30 April 2026 30 April 2025
Catherine Cripps 4,810 4,810
Tim Cruttenden* 14,393 12,690
Adiba Ighodaro 2,448 2,448
Charles Park 18,400 18,400
Jane Pearce 10,970 10,970
Stephen White 100,000 100,000
* including PCA’s
There have been no changes in these interests between the end of the financial year and to close of business 8 July 2026.
Performance
The Large and Medium-Sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) (amendment) Regulations 2013,
(Schedule 8, Part 3 (18, 4(c))) require a line graph to be included in the Directors’ Remuneration Report showing the
total shareholder return for each of the financial years in the relevant period, being the five financial years with the last
being the period under review. Each subsequent annual graph is required to increase by one year until the maximum
relevant period of ten years is reached; thereafter the relevant period will continue to be ten years. The Dow Jones Global
Technology Index is shown because, as a market capitalisation weighted index based on the entire global technology
sector, it is the most relevant benchmark.
84
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Relative Importance Of Spend On Pay
Under the Regulations (Schedule 8, Part 3 (20)), the Directors’ Remuneration Report must show a comparison of all
remuneration paid to employees to all distributions (including dividends and share buy backs) paid to Shareholders for the
current year, preceding year and the difference between those years. This is to assist the Directors in understanding the
relative importance of spend on pay.
The Company has no employees and while the Directors do not consider that the comparison of Directors’ remuneration
with distributions to Shareholders is a meaningful measure of the Company’s overall performance, for comparison
purposes the table below compares Directors’ fees with the level of dividends paid, profit after tax and the cost of share
buy backs undertaken by the Company.
2026 2025 Change
£’000 £’000 £’000 %
Directors’ total remuneration 269 254 15 5.9
Dividends paid or declared in respect of the financial
year
----
Net profit for the year and total comprehensive
income
3,752,471 118,355 3,634,116 3070.5
Ordinary shares repurchased into treasury 232,488 117,935 114,553 97.1
Tim Cruttenden
Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee
9 July 2026
April
2016
April
2017
April
2018
April
2019
April
2020
April
2021
April
2022
April
2023
April
2024
April
2025
April
2026
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
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1200
Company ordinary share price Benchmark
Directors’ Remuneration Report continued
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85
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Report of the Nomination Committee
The Nomination Committee (the Committee) is chaired by
Catherine Cripps and comprises all the independent non-
executive Directors. The Committee has written terms of
reference, which are available to view on the Company’s
website, www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk. The terms
of reference clearly define the Committee’s responsibilities
and duties.
The Committee meets at least annually and is responsible to
the Board for the size, structure and composition of the Board
as well as for succession planning and the tenure policies for
the Chair and Directors.
Meetings and Work Undertaken
During the financial year ended 30 April 2026 the Nomination
Committee met twice and considered the following:
Board Performance Review
The Committee is responsible for coordinating the
evaluation of the Board and considering the conclusions
from that review. The performance review of the Board,
its Committees and individual Directors is undertaken
annually. The review undertaken in 2025-2026 was
internally facilitated and incorporated completion of
questionnaires, culminating in written reports being
provided to the Committee and Board.
The review process was also used by the Committee to
carefully review and rigorously assess the contribution of
each Director and their independence. The performance
review of the Chair was also carried out by the Committee,
led by the SID. Each year, the performance review
outcomes are reviewed by the Board as a whole and,
should it be deemed necessary, additional reporting
measures or operations are put in place. The review also
considered the balance of skills, experience, knowledge
and independence on the Board.
Following this review, the Committee has determined that
each of the Directors standing for re-election continued
to offer relevant experience, effectively contributed to the
operation of the Board and had demonstrated independent
views on a range of subjects. The Committee is therefore
satisfied that the structure, mix of skills and operation of
the Board continue to be effective and relevant for the
Company.
The last externally facilitated review was undertaken in
2025 by Fletcher Jones Ltd, an independent external
provider, with no other connection to the Company
or individual Directors. External evaluations have been
completed every three years whilst the Company has
been a constituent of the FTSE 350. The next externally
administered Board Evaluation will be carried out in
FY2028 unless it is deemed to be required earlier.
Succession
The Board considers that an appropriate balance should
be maintained between continuity of experience and
periodic Board refreshment. In the Board’s view, retaining
Directors with a strong understanding of the Company,
the investment industry and financial markets is of benefit
to Shareholders, while recognising that the introduction
of new perspectives is equally of benefit and importance.
The Board does not regard that length of tenure, in itself,
is determinative of a Director’s independence. The Board
believes that continuity and experience add significantly
to the strength of the Board. Directors will ordinarily retire
from the Board at the AGM following nine years of service.
As reported in the Chair’s Statement, Tim Cruttenden and
Charles Park will retire from the Board at the conclusion
of the AGM in 2026. In anticipation of these retirements,
the Nomination Committee has commenced a recruitment
process for the appointment of a new non-executive
director. The Committee expect that this process will
conclude in the latter part of 2026.
Catherine Cripps
Chair of the Nomination
Committee
Cathe
r
Chair o
Comm
i
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Chair Tenure Policy
The Board considers that in the specific circumstances of
an investment company, where corporate knowledge and
continuity can add value, there may be merit in appointing
one of its members to the Chair. In addition, there may
be circumstances where succession plans are disrupted
such that an internal candidate with some years’ existing
experience is the most appropriate candidate for the Chair.
In other circumstances an external candidate may be
more appropriate. The Board supports the best practice of
Directors remaining on the Board for no-longer than nine
years but acknowledges that in exceptional circumstances
the Chair may remain on the Board for up to twelve years.
Committee Performance Review
As referenced above, the activities of the Nomination
Committee were considered as part of the Board
Performance Review which took place during the financial
year. The report’s findings noted that the Board and each
Committee was operating effectively, with an appropriate
and sufficient balance of experience and skills on all areas
of importance, resulting in a well-managed, well-run, and
effective board.
Catherine Cripps
Chair of the Nomination Committee
9 July 2026
Report of the Nomination Committee continued
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87
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Management Engagement Committee Report
The Management Engagement Committee (the Committee)
is chaired by Catherine Cripps and comprises all the
independent non-executive Directors. The Committee has
written terms of reference, which are available to view on
the Company’s website, www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.
co.uk. The terms of reference clearly define the Committee’s
responsibilities and duties.
The Committee meets at least twice a year and is responsible
for reviewing the performance of the Investment Manager
along with the Company’s other service providers. The
Committee is also responsible for keeping under review the
terms of the Investment Management Agreement (IMA) and
the Manager’s appointment as AIFM.
Performance Evaluation Process
Investment Manager
During the financial year ended 30 April 2026, the Committee
met twice to consider the relationship with and, the services
provided by the Manager. In addition, the Committee
reviewed the terms of the IMA including the level and
structure of management fee paid to the Manager, making
relevant recommendations to the Board when appropriate.
The Board keeps the fee arrangements with Polar Capital
LLP under review and considers any recommendations of the
Committee. During the year under review, the Committee
reflected on the changes made to the management fee
arrangements which took effect on 1 May 2025 and
concluded that the current fee structure in place remains
appropriate. Details of the management fee arrangements can
be found on page 53 in the Strategic Report.
Under the terms of the IMA, the Board may undertake a
three-yearly review of the fee arrangements, the next of
which is planned to commence in 2027, with the anticipation
that any changes proposed and subsequently agreed will
take effect from the start of the following financial year.
The Board is however at liberty to review the fees at any time
should they deem it appropriate and in the best interests of
Shareholders to do so.
The Committee has reviewed the performance of the
Investment Manager in managing the portfolio over the
longer-term. The review also considered the quality of
the other services provided, including the strength of the
investment team, the depth of the other services provided
and the resources available to provide such services.
The Board reflected on the positive impact from the continued
recruitment into various teams at the Investment Manager
to support the Company, which includes the investment
team, marketing, administration, and the organisation on the
Company’s behalf of third-party suppliers, and the quality of
the Shareholder communications.
Following review, the Committee concluded that it is in the
best interests of Shareholders as a whole that the appointment
of Polar Capital LLP as Investment Manager is continued on
the terms agreed on 12 April 2019.
Other Suppliers
The Board also monitors directly or through the Investment
Manager the performance of its other key service providers.
• The Board has appointed HSBC Bank Plc as both
Depositary and Custodian. The Depositary reports quarterly
and makes an annual presentation to the Board.
• Until 12 January 2026, Stifel Nicolaus served as the
Company’s Corporate Broker. Following Stifel Nicolaus’s
notification in December 2025 of its intention to cease
its UK market making operations, the Board undertook a
formal review of potential successor brokers in order to
ensure the continued provision of high-quality support
to the Company and its Shareholders. Following the
conclusion of this process, Peel Hunt LLP was appointed
as the Company’s Corporate Broker with effect from
12 January 2026. The Corporate Broker provides the
Board with regular market updates and advice and attends
Board meetings at the Board’s request to discuss market
developments and other relevant matters.
• The Registrar, Equiniti Limited, is directly appointed by the
Board and the performance of its duties is monitored by
the Company Secretary.
• Other suppliers such as printers, website designers and
PR agents are monitored by the Company Secretary and
each supplier reports to the Board as and when deemed
necessary.
Committee Performance Review
During the year, as part of the review of the performance
of the Board, the effectiveness of the Management
Engagement Committee was also assessed by an
independent third party. The report’s findings noted that
the Board and each Committee was operating effectively,
with an appropriate and sufficient balance of experience and
skills on all areas of importance, resulting in a well-managed,
well-run, and effective board.
Catherine Cripps
Chair of the Management Engagement Committee
9 July 2026
Catherine Cripps
Chair of the Management
Engagement Committee
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities in respect of
the Annual Report and Financial Statements
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual
Report and the financial statements in accordance with
applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial
statements for each financial year. Under that law they
have elected to prepare the financial statements in
accordance with UK-adopted international accounting
standards and applicable law.
Under company law the Directors must not approve the
financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give
a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company
and of its profit or loss for that period. In preparing these
financial statements, the Directors are required to:
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them
consistently;
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable,
relevant and reliable;
• state whether they have been prepared in accordance
with UK-adopted international accounting standards;
• assess the Company’s ability to continue as a going
concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to
going concern; and
• use the going concern basis of accounting unless they
either intend to liquidate the Company or to cease
operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate
accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain
the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable
accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company
and enable them to ensure that its financial statements
comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are responsible
for such internal control as they determine is necessary
to enable the preparation of financial statements that are
free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or
error, and have general responsibility for taking such steps
as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of
the Company and to prevent and detect fraud and other
irregularities.
Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are
also responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, Directors’
Report, Directors’ Remuneration Report and Corporate
Governance Statement that complies with that law and
those regulations.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and
integrity of the corporate and financial information
included on the Company’s website. Legislation in the UK
governing the preparation and dissemination of financial
statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Responsibility Statement of the Directors in
respect of the Annual Report and Financial
Statements
We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:
• the financial statements, prepared in accordance with
the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true
and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position
and profit or loss of the Company; and
• the Strategic Report includes a fair review of the
development and performance of the business and the
position of the issuer, together with a description of the
principal risks and uncertainties that they face.
We consider the annual report and accounts, taken as a
whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides
the information necessary for Shareholders to assess the
Company’s position and performance, business model and
strategy.
Catherine Cripps
Chair
9 July 2026
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
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KPMG LLP’s Independent Auditor’s Report
to the members of Polar Capital Technology Trust PLC
1. Our opinion is unmodified
In our opinion:
• the financial statements of Polar Capital Technology Trust PLC give a true and fair view of the state of the
Company’s affairs as at 30 April 2026, and of the Company’s profit for the year then ended;
• the financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting
standards;
• the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
What our opinion covers
We have audited the financial statements of Polar Capital Technology Trust PLC (the Company) for the year ended
30 April 2026 included in the Annual Report, which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, Statement of
Changes in Equity, Balance sheet, Cash Flow Statement and the related Notes, including the accounting policies in note 2.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our
responsibilities are described below. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis
for our opinion. Our audit opinion and matters included in this report are consistent with those discussed and included in our
reporting to the Audit Committee (AC).
2. Our Independence
We have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities under, and we remain independent of the Company in accordance with, UK
ethical requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities.
We have not performed any non-audit services during the financial year or subsequently which are prohibited by the
FRC Ethical Standard. Total audit fees for the year were £84k and audit related fees and fees for other services were £nil.
Non-audit fees as a percentage of total audit and audit related fees were thus 0%.
We were first appointed as auditor by the shareholders for the year ended 30 April 2018. The period of total uninterrupted
engagement is for the 9 financial years ended 30 April 2026. The next financial year which requires a tender is 30 April 2028.
The engagement partner is required to rotate every 5 years. Richard De La Rue will be required to rotate off after the financial
year ended 30 April 2029 audit.
Interactions with the audit committee
During the year, the audit committee met three times. KPMG were invited to attend all audit committee meetings and were
provided with an opportunity to meet with the audit committee in private sessions without the Executive Directors being
present. For the Key Audit Matter, we have set out communications with the AC in section 4.
The matters included in the Audit Committee Chair’s report on pages 75 to 79 are materially consistent with our
observations of those meetings
3. Going concern, viability and principal risks and uncertainties
The directors have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis as they do not intend to liquidate the
Company or to cease their operations, and as they have concluded that the Company’s financial position means that
this is realistic. They have also concluded that there are no material uncertainties that could have cast significant doubt
over the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for at least a year from the date of approval of the financial
statements (the going concern period).
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Going concern
We used our knowledge of the Company, its industry, and the general economic
environment to identify the inherent risks to its business model and analysed how
those risks might affect the Company’s financial resources or ability to continue
operations over the going concern period. The risks that we considered most likely
to adversely affect the Company’s available financial resources and metrics relevant
to debt covenants over this period were:
• the impact of a significant reduction in the valuation of investments and the
implications for the Company’s debt covenants;
• the liquidity of the investment portfolio and its ability to meet the liabilities of
the Company as and when they fall due; and
• the operational resilience of key service organisations.
We considered whether these risks could plausibly affect the liquidity or covenant
compliance in the going concern period by assessing the degree of downside
assumption that, individually and collectively, could result in a liquidity issue, taking
into account the Company’s current and projected cash and liquid investment
position (a reverse stress test).
We considered whether the going concern disclosure in note 2(A) to the financial
statements gives a full and accurate description of the Directors’ assessment of
going concern, including the identified risks and related sensitivities.
Accordingly, based on those procedures, we found the directors’ use of the going
concern basis of accounting without any material uncertainty for the Company to
be acceptable.
However, as we cannot predict all future events or conditions and as subsequent
events may result in outcomes that are inconsistent with judgements that were
reasonable at the time they were made, the above conclusions are not a guarantee
that the Company will continue in operation.
Our conclusions
• We consider that the directors’
use of the going concern basis
of accounting in the preparation
of the financial statements is
appropriate;
• We have not identified, and
concur with the directors’
assessment that there is not,
a material uncertainty related
to events or conditions that,
individually or collectively, may
cast significant doubt on the
Company’s ability to continue as
a going concern for the going
concern period;
• We have nothing material
to add or draw attention to
in relation to the directors’
statement in note 2(A) to the
financial statements on the use
of the going concern basis of
accounting with no material
uncertainties that may cast
significant doubt over the
Company’s use of that basis for
the going concern period, and
we found the going concern
disclosure in note 2(A) to be
acceptable; and
• The related statement under
the UK Listing Rules set out on
page 55 is materially consistent
with the financial statements
and our audit knowledge.
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Disclosures of emerging and principal risks and longer-term viability
Our responsibility
We are required to perform procedures to identify whether there is a material
inconsistency between the directors’ disclosures in respect of emerging and
principal risks and the viability statement, and the financial statements and our
audit knowledge.
Based on those procedures, we have nothing material to add or draw attention to
in relation to:
• the directors’ confirmation within the Principal Risks and Uncertainties
disclosure on pages 57 to 60 that they have carried out a robust assessment
of the emerging and principal risks facing the Company, including those that
would threaten its business model, future performance, solvency and liquidity;
• the Principal Risks and Uncertainties disclosures describing these risks and how
emerging risks are identified and explaining how they are being managed and
mitigated; and
• the directors’ explanation in the Viability Statement of how they have assessed
the prospects of the Company, over what period they have done so and
why they considered that period to be appropriate, and their statement as to
whether they have a reasonable expectation that the Company will be able to
continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the period of
their assessment, including any related disclosures drawing attention to any
necessary qualifications or assumptions.
We are also required to review the Viability Statement set out on page 53 under
the UK Listing Rules.
Our work is limited to assessing these matters in the context of only the knowledge
acquired during our financial statements audit. As we cannot predict all future
events or conditions and as subsequent events may result in outcomes that are
inconsistent with judgements that were reasonable at the time they were made,
the absence of anything to report on these statements is not a guarantee as to the
Company’s longer-term viability.
Our reporting
We have nothing material to add
or draw attention to in relation to
these disclosures.
We have concluded that these
disclosures are materially
consistent with the financial
statements and our audit
knowledge.
4. Key Audit Matter
What We Mean
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in the audit of the
financial statements and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to
fraud) identified by us, including those which had the greatest effect on:
• the overall audit strategy;
• the allocation of resources in the audit; and
• directing the efforts of the engagement team.
We include below the Key Audit Matter together with our key audit procedures to address this matter and our findings
from those procedures in order that the Company’s members, as a body, may better understand the process by which
we arrived at our audit opinion. This matter was addressed, and our findings are based on procedures undertaken, in
the context of, and solely for the purpose of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion
thereon, and consequently are incidental to that opinion, and we do not provide a separate opinion on this matter.
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4.1 Valuation of quoted investments
Financial Statement Elements Our assessment of risk vs FY25 Our findings
FY26 FY25
ef
The risk has remained the same
as the prior year
FY26: no differences
FY25: no differences
Valuation of Investments held at
fair value through profit or loss
£6,847m £3,664m
Description of the Key Audit Matter Our response to the risk
The Company’s portfolio of quoted investments makes
up 91% (2025: 94%) of the Company’s total assets (by
value) and is one of the key drivers of results. We do
not consider these investments to be at a high risk of
significant misstatement, or to be subject to a significant
level of judgement or estimation uncertainty because
they comprise liquid, level 1 investments.
However, due to their materiality in the context of the
financial statements as a whole, they are considered to
be one of the areas which had the greatest effect on
our overall audit strategy and allocation of resources in
planning and completing our audit.
We performed the detailed tests below rather than
seeking to rely on any of the Company’s controls, because
the nature of the balance is such that we would expect
to obtain audit evidence primarily through the detailed
procedures described below.
Our procedures included:
• Test of detail: Agreed the valuation of 100% of level 1
investments in the portfolio to externally quoted prices;
and
• Enquiry of custodians: Agreed 100% of level 1
investment holdings in the portfolio to independently
received third party confirmations from investment
custodians.
Communications with the Polar Capital Technology Trust’s Audit Committee
Our discussions with and reporting to the Audit Committee included:
• Our approach to the audit of the valuation of the quoted investment portfolio including details of our planned
substantive procedures, use of specialists and the extent of our controls reliance.
• Our conclusions on the valuation of quoted level 1 investments, including differences identified.
• Our assessment of whether any misstatement identified through these procedures was material.
• Our assessment of whether disclosures in respect of quoted investments were appropriate.
Areas of particular auditor judgement
No areas of significant judgement were identified as the investments are predominantly level 1 securities, which are
valued using externally quoted prices.
Our findings
We found no differences (2025: no differences) from the holdings confirmations nor from the externally quoted prices
of a size to require reporting to the Audit Committee.
Further information in the Annual Report and Accounts: See the Audit Committee Report on page 75 for details on how
the Audit Committee considered Valuation of quoted investments as an area of significant attention, page 106 for the
accounting policy on Valuation of quoted investments, and note 13 for the financial disclosures.
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
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5. Our Ability to Detect Irregularities, and Our Response
Fraud - Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement due to fraud
Fraud Risk Assessment To identify risks of material misstatement due to fraud (fraud risks) we assessed events
or conditions that could indicate an incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an
opportunity to commit fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:
•
enquiring of Directors as to the Company’s high-level policies and procedures to prevent
and detect fraud, as well as whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or
alleged fraud;
• reading Board and Audit Committee minutes;
• assessing the segregation of duties in place between the Directors, the Administrator and
the Company’s investment manager.
• Using analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships.
Risk Communications We communicated identified fraud risks throughout the audit team and remained alert to
any indications of fraud throughout the audit.
Fraud Risks As required by auditing standards, we perform procedures to address the risk of
management override of controls, in particular the risk that management may be in a
position to make inappropriate accounting entries. On this audit we do not believe there is
a fraud risk related to revenue recognition because revenue is non-judgemental and non-
complex, with limited opportunity for manipulation.
We did not identify any additional fraud risks.
Procedures to Address
Fraud Risks
We evaluated the design and implementation of the controls over journal entries and
other adjustments and made inquiries of the Administrator about inappropriate or
unusual activity relating to the processing of journal entries and other adjustments. We
substantively tested all material post- closing entries and a sample of journal entries made
at the end of the reporting period. Based on the results of our risk assessment procedures
and understanding of the process, including the segregation of duties between the
Directors, Investment Manager and the Administrator, no high-risk journal entries or other
adjustments were identified.
Laws and Regulations - Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement relating to compliance with laws and regulations
Laws and Regulations
Risk Assessment
We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a
material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience
and through discussion with the Directors, the Investment Manager and the Administrator (as
required by auditing standards), and discussed with the Directors the policies and procedures
regarding compliance with laws and regulations.
Risk Communications We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained
alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.
Direct Laws Context and
Link to Audit
The potential effect of these laws and regulations on the financial statements varies
considerably.
The Company is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial
statements including financial reporting legislation (including related companies
legislation), distributable profits legislation, and its qualification as an Investment Trust
under UK taxation legislation, any breach of which could lead to the Company losing
various deductions and exemptions from UK corporation tax, and we assessed the extent
of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related
financial statement items.
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Laws and Regulations - Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement relating to compliance with laws and regulations
Most Significant Indirect
Law/ Regulation Areas
The Company is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of
non-compliance could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial
statements, for instance through the imposition of fines or litigation. We identified the
following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: money laundering, data
protection, bribery and corruption legislation and certain aspects of company legislation
recognising the financial and regulated nature of the Company’s activities and its legal form.
Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with
these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Directors, the Investment Manager and the
Administrator and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. Therefore,
if a breach of operational regulations is not disclosed to us or evident from relevant
correspondence, an audit will not detect that breach.
Context
Context of the Ability
of The Audit to Detect
Fraud or Breaches of
Law or Regulation
Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not
have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we
have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For
example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events
and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited
procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit,
there remained a higher risk of non-detection of fraud, as fraud may involve collusion,
forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. Our
audit procedures are designed to detect material misstatement. We are not responsible for
preventing non-compliance or fraud and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all
laws and regulations.
6. Our Determination of Materiality
The scope of our audit was influenced by our application of materiality. We set quantitative thresholds and overlay
qualitative considerations to help us determine the scope of our audit and the nature, timing and extent of our
procedures, and in evaluating the effect of misstatements, both individually and in the aggregate, on the financial
statements as a whole.
£75.3M
(FY25: £39.0M)
Materiality for The
Financial Statements
as a Whole
What we mean
A quantitative reference for the purpose of planning and performing our audit.
Basis for determining materiality and judgements applied
Materiality for the financial statements as a whole was set at £75m (FY25: £39m). This was
determined with reference to a benchmark of Total Assets.
Consistent with FY25, we determined that Total Assets remains the main benchmark as the
business model of Polar Capital Technology Trust means that the investment portfolio and
wider asset base (i.e. cash and cash equivalents) is the primary driver of the performance of
the Company. Consequently, the primary financial indicator to understand the Company’s
performance is considered to be Total Assets.
Our materiality of £75m was determined by applying a percentage to the Total Assets. When
using a benchmark of Total Assets to determine overall materiality, KPMG’s approach for listed
entities considers a guideline range 0.5% to 1% of the measure. In setting overall materiality,
we applied a percentage of 1% (FY25: 1%) to the benchmark.
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£56.4M
(FY25: £29.2M)
Performance Materiality
What we mean
Our procedures on individual account balances and disclosures were performed to a lower
threshold, performance materiality, so as to reduce to an acceptable level the risk that
individually immaterial misstatements in individual account balances add up to a material
amount across the financial statements as a whole.
Basis for determining performance materiality and judgements applied
We have considered performance materiality at a level of 75% (FY25: 75%) of materiality
for Polar Capital Technology Trust PLC’s financial statements as a whole to be appropriate.
We applied this percentage in our determination of performance materiality because we
did not identify any factors indicating an elevated level of risk.
£3.7M
(FY25: £1.9M)
Audit Misstatement
Posting Threshold
What we mean
This is the amount below which identified misstatements are considered to be clearly
trivial from a quantitative point of view. We may become aware of misstatements below
this threshold which could alter the nature, timing and scope of our audit procedures, for
example if we identify smaller misstatements which are indicators of fraud.
This is also the amount above which all misstatements identified are communicated to
Polar Capital Technology Trust’s Audit Committee.
Basis for determining the audit misstatement posting threshold and judgements
applied
We set our audit misstatement posting threshold at 5% (FY25: 5%) of our materiality
for the financial statements. We also report to the Audit Committee any other identified
misstatements that warrant reporting on qualitative grounds.
The overall materiality for the financial statements of £75.3m (FY25: 39.0m) compares as follows to the main financial
statement caption amounts:
Total Assets Net Assets
FY26 FY25 FY26 FY25
Financial statement Caption £7,512M £3,907m £7,325m £3,804m
Materiality as % of caption 1% 1% 1.03% 1.02%
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KPMG LLP’s Independent Auditor’s Report continued
7. The Scope of Our Audit
Scope What we mean
How the auditor determined the procedures to be performed across the Company.
Our audit of the Company was undertaken to the materiality level specified above and
was performed by a single audit team.
As disclosed within the Strategic Report on page 52, administrative operations of
the Company are provided by HSBC Securities Services Limited (the Administrator).
We therefore identified the financial reporting system operated by the Company’s
Administrator to be the main IT system relevant to our audit. We obtained and read the
Administrator’s type 2 service organisation controls report to assist us in evaluating the
design of the general IT controls of the main finance system.
We took a fully substantive approach in all areas of our audit, consistent with our
approach noted within the key audit matter in section 4 of our report, as we consider
this to be a more efficient and effective approach to gaining the appropriate audit
evidence. We did not plan to rely on any of the Company’s controls in relation to any
areas of our audit, because the nature of the majority of the Company’s balances
(including Investments, cash and cash equivalents and loans) is such that we would
expect to obtain audit evidence primarily from external confirmations (for Investment
holdings, cash and cash equivalents and loans) and by agreeing the valuation of 100%
of investments in the portfolio to external market data.
8. Other Information in the Annual Report
The directors are responsible for the other information presented in the Annual Report together with the financial
statements. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not
express an audit opinion or, except as explicitly stated below, any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
All other information
Our responsibility
Our responsibility is to read the other information and,
in doing so, consider whether, based on our financial
statements audit work, the information therein is
materially misstated or inconsistent with the financial
statements or our audit knowledge.
Our reporting
Based solely on that work we have not identified material
misstatements or inconsistencies in the other information.
Strategic report and directors’ report
Our responsibility and reporting
Based solely on our work on the other information
described above we report to you as follows:
• we have not identified material misstatements in the
strategic report and the directors’ report;
• in our opinion the information given in those reports
for the financial year is consistent with the financial
statements; and
• in our opinion those reports have been prepared in
accordance with the Companies Act 2006.
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Directors’ remuneration report
Our responsibility
We are required to form an opinion as to whether the
part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited
has been properly prepared in accordance with the
Companies Act 2006.
Our reporting
In our opinion the part of the Directors’ Remuneration
Report to be audited has been properly prepared in
accordance with the Companies Act 2006.
Corporate governance disclosures
Our responsibility
We are required to perform procedures to identify
whether there is a material inconsistency between the
financial statements and our audit knowledge, and:
• the directors’ statement that they consider that the
annual report and financial statements taken as a
whole is fair, balanced and understandable, and
provides the information necessary for shareholders
to assess the Company’s position and performance,
business model and strategy;
• the section of the annual report describing the work
of the Audit Committee, including the significant
issues that the Audit Committee considered in
relation to the financial statements, and how these
issues were addressed; and
• the section of the annual report that describes the
review of the effectiveness of the Company’s risk
management and internal control systems.
Our reporting
Based on those procedures, we have concluded that each of
these disclosures is materially consistent with the financial
statements and our audit knowledge.
We are also required to review the part of the Corporate
Governance Statement relating to the Company’s
compliance with the provisions of the UK Corporate
Governance Code specified by the UK Listing Rules for
our review.
We have nothing to report in this respect.
Other matters on which we are required to report by exception
Our responsibility
Under the Companies Act 2006, we are required to
report to you if, in our opinion:
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by
the Company, or returns adequate for our audit have
not been received from branches not visited by us; or
• the Company financial statements and the part of
the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are
not in agreement with the accounting records and
returns; or
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration
specified by law are not made; or
• we have not received all the information and
explanations we require for our audit.
Our reporting
We have nothing to report in these respects.
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9. Respective Responsibilities
Directors’ responsibilities
As explained more fully in their statement set out on page 88, the directors are responsible for: the preparation of the
financial statements including being satisfied that they give a true and fair view; such internal control as they determine
is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to
fraud or error; assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to
going concern; and using the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the Company or to
cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from
material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s report. Reasonable
assurance is a high level of assurance, but does not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will
always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered
material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users
taken on the basis of the financial statements.
A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.
The Company is required to include these financial statements in an annual financial report prepared under Disclosure
Guidance and Transparency Rule 4.1.17R and 4.1.18R. This auditor’s report provides no assurance over whether the
annual financial report has been prepared in accordance with those requirements.
10. The Purpose of Our Audit Work and to Whom We Owe Our Responsibilities
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the
Companies Act 2006 and the terms of our engagement by the Company. Our audit work has been undertaken so that
we might state to the Company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report, and
the further matters we are required to state to them in accordance with the terms agreed with the Company, and for no
other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than
the Company and the Company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have
formed.
Richard De La Rue (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor
Chartered Accountants
15 Canada Square
LONDON
EH14 5GL
9 July 2026
KPMG LLP’s Independent Auditor’s Report continued
Financial Statements
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the year ended 30 April 2026
Year ended 30 April 2026 Year ended 30 April 2025
Notes
Revenue
return
£’000
Capital
return
£’000
Total
return
£’000
Revenue
return
£’000
Capital
return
£’000
Total
return
£’000
Investment income 3 24,252 266 24,518 19,055 - 19,055
Other operating income 4 8,539 - 8,539 6,309 - 6,309
Gains on investments held at fair value 5 - 3,788,692 3,788,692 - 128,523 128,523
(Losses)/gains on derivatives 6 - (28,836) (28,836) - 2,767 2,767
Other currency gains/(losses) 7 - 1,905 1,905 - (1,649) (1,649)
Total income 32,791 3,762,027 3,794,818 25,364 129,641 155,005
Expenses
Investment management fee 8 (35,825) - (35,825) (30,854) - (30,854)
Other administrative expenses 9 (2,051) - (2,051) (1,644) - (1,644)
Total expenses (37,876) - (37,876) (32,498) - (32,498)
Profit before finance costs and tax (5,085) 3,762,027 3,756,942 (7,134) 129,641 122,507
Finance costs 10 (1,595) - (1,595) (1,786) - (1,786)
Profit before tax (6,680) 3,762,027 3,755,347 (8,920) 129,641 120,721
Tax 11 (2,876) - (2,876) (2,366) - (2,366)
Net profit for the year and total
comprehensive income
(9,556) 3,762,027 3,752,471 (11,286) 129,641 118,355
Earnings per ordinary share (basic and
diluted) (pence)
12 (0.84) 331.26 330.42 (0.95) 10.92 9.97
The total column of this statement represents the Company’s Statement of Comprehensive Income, prepared in accordance with
UK-adopted International Accounting Standards.
The revenue return and capital return columns are supplementary to this and are prepared under guidance published by the AIC.
All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.
The Company does not have any other comprehensive income.
The notes on pages 104 to 126 form part of these Financial Statements.
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Notes
Share
capital
£’000
Capital
redemption
reserve
£’000
Share
premium
£’000
Special
non-
distrib-
utable
reserve
£’000
Capital
reserves
£’000
Revenue
reserve
£’000
Total
£’000
Total equity at 30 April 2024 34,329 12,802 223,374 7,536 3,669,370 (142,878) 3,804,533
Total comprehensive income/(expense):
Profit/(loss) for the year to 30 April 2025 - - - - 129,641 (11,286) 118,355
Transactions with owners, recorded
directly to equity:
Ordinary shares repurchased into treasury 18, 22 - - - - (117,935) - (117,935)
Share split costs 22 - - - - (64) - (64)
Total equity at 30 April 2025 34,329 12,802 223,374 7,536 3,681,012 (154,164) 3,804,889
Total comprehensive income/(expense):
Profit/(loss) for the year to 30 April 2026 - - - - 3,762,027 (9,556) 3,752,471
Transactions with owners, recorded
directly to equity:
Ordinary shares repurchased into treasury 18, 22 - - - - (232,488) - (232,488)
Total equity at 30 April 2026 34,329 12,802 223,374 7,536 7,210,551 (163,720) 7,324,872
The notes on pages 104 to 126 form part of these Financial Statements.
Statement of Changes in Equity
For the year ended 30 April 2026
102
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Balance Sheet
At 30 April 2026
Notes
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Non current assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss 13 6,846,646 3,664,891
Current assets
Receivables 14 57,547 39,801
Overseas tax recoverable 541 441
Cash and cash equivalents 15 583,612 188,911
Derivative financial instruments 13 24,037 12,958
665,737 242,111
Total assets 7,512,383 3,907,002
Current liabilities
Payables 16 (117,068) (22,337)
Overdraft at bank and derivative clearing houses 15 - (1,046)
(117,068) (23,383)
Non current liabilities
Bank loans 17 (70,443) (78,730)
Net assets 7,324,872 3,804,889
Equity attributable to equity shareholders
Share capital 18 34,329 34,329
Capital redemption reserve 19 12,802 12,802
Share premium 20 223,374 223,374
Special non-distributable reserve 21 7,536 7,536
Capital reserves 22 7,210,551 3,681,012
Revenue reserve 23 (163,720) (154,164)
Total equity 7,324,872 3,804,889
Net asset value per ordinary share (pence) 25 657.41 325.20
The Financial Statements, on pages 100 to 103, were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 9 July 2026 and
signed on its behalf by:
Catherine Cripps
Chair
The notes on pages 104 to 126 form part of these Financial Statements
Registered number 3224867
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Notes
2026
£’000
2025
£’000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before tax 3,755,347 120,721
Adjustments
Gains on investments held at fair value through profit or loss 5 (3,788,692) (128,523)
Losses/(gains) on derivative financial instruments 6 28,836 (2,767)
Proceeds of disposal on investments 8,185,893 4,648,853
Purchases of investments (7,499,096) (4,464,412)
Proceeds from disposal of derivative financial instruments 13 240,483 99,136
Purchases of derivative financial instruments 13 (280,398) (99,770)
(Increase)/decrease in receivables (2,335) 1,550
Increase/(decrease) in payables 1,320 (9)
Finance costs 10 1,595 1,786
Overseas tax (2,976) (2,461)
Foreign exchange (gains)/losses 7 (1,905) 1,649
Net cash generated from operating activities 638,072 175,753
Cash flows from financing activities
Finance costs paid (1,648) (1,776)
Ordinary shares repurchased into treasury (234,295) (117,689)
Share split costs 22 - (64)
Loan repaid 17 - (46,689)
Loan drawn 17 - 78,307
Net cash used in financing activities (235,943) (87,911)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 402,129 87,842
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 187,865 102,596
Effect of movement in foreign exchange rates on cash held 7 (6,382) (2,573)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 15 583,612 187,865
Reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents to the Balance Sheet is as follows:
Notes
2026
£’000
2025
£’000
Cash held at bank, overdraft and derivative clearing houses 15 354,921 166,498
BlackRock’s Institutional Cash Series plc
(US Treasury Fund), money market fund
15 228,691 21,367
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 15 583,612 187,865
The notes on pages 104 to 126 form part of these Financial Statements
Cash Flow Statement
For the year ended 30 April 2026
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
1 General Information
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales whose shares are traded
on the London Stock Exchange.
The principal activity of the Company is that of an investment trust company within the meaning of Section 1158/1159 of
the Corporation Tax Act 2010 and its investment approach is detailed in the Strategic Report.
The Company’s Financial Statements have been prepared and approved by the Directors in accordance with UK-adopted
International Accounting Standards (UK-adopted IAS).
The Company’s presentational currency is Pounds Sterling. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds (£’000)
except as otherwise stated.
2 Accounting Policies
The material accounting policy information and other explanatory information have been applied consistently for all years
presented are set out below:
(A) Basis of Preparation
The Financial Statements have been prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, as modified by
the inclusion of investments and derivative financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss.
Where presentational guidance set out in the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for investment trusts issued by the
Association of Investment Companies (AIC) in July 2022 and updated in December 2025 is consistent with the requirements
of UK-adopted IAS, the Directors have sought to prepare the Financial Statements on a basis compliant with the
recommendations of the SORP. The Company has early adopted the December 2025 SORP updates, effective for accounting
periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026, with no impact on the basis of accounting.
Going Concern
The financial position of the Company as at 30 April 2026 is shown in the Balance Sheet on page 102. As at 30 April 2026
the Company’s total assets exceeded its total liabilities by a multiple of over 39. The assets of the Company consist mainly
of securities that are held in accordance with the Company’s Investment Policy, as set out on page 50 and these securities
are readily realisable. The Company has a three-year fixed rate term loan with The Bank of Nova Scotia which falls due for
repayment on 30 September 2027. The Directors have considered a detailed assessment of the Company’s ability to meet its
liabilities as they fall due. The assessment took account of the Company’s current financial position, which used a variety of
falling parameters to demonstrate the effects in the Company’s share price and net asset value. In addition, the Company’s
cash flows were stressed tested for base case and reasonable worse case scenarios such as reduction in dividend and interest
income and increase in administrative expenses. In light of the results of these tests, the Company’s cash balances, and
the liquidity position, the Directors consider that the Company has adequate financial resources to enable it to continue in
operational existence for at least 12 months.
The Company has within its corporate structure the requirement to hold a continuation vote every five years. The
continuation vote resolution was put to Shareholders at the AGM held in September 2025 and was duly passed. Accordingly,
the next continuation vote, in accordance with the Articles of Association, will be proposed at the AGM in 2030.
(B) Presentation of Statement of Comprehensive Income
In order to reflect better the activities of an investment trust company and in accordance with the guidance set out by the
AIC, supplementary information which analyses the Statement of Comprehensive Income between items of a revenue
and capital nature has been presented alongside the Statement of Comprehensive Income. The results presented in the
revenue return column is the measure the Directors believe appropriate in assessing the Company’s compliance with
certain requirements set out in section 1158 of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010.
(C) Income
Dividends receivable from equity shares are taken to the revenue return column of the Statement of Comprehensive
Income on an ex-dividend basis.
Notes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 30 April 2026
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Special dividends are recognised on an ex-dividend basis and may be considered to be either revenue or capital items.
The facts and circumstances are considered on a case by case basis before a conclusion on appropriate allocation is reached.
Where the Company has received dividends in the form of additional shares rather than in cash, the amount of the cash
dividend foregone is recognised in the revenue return column of the Statement of Comprehensive Income. Any excess in
value of shares received over the amount of the cash dividend foregone is recognised in the capital return column of the
Statement of Comprehensive Income.
Unfranked income includes the taxes deducted at source.
Bank interest, money market fund interest and other income receivable are accounted for on an accruals basis and is
recognised in the period in which it was earned.
Interest outstanding at the year end is calculated on a time apportioned basis using the market rates of interest.
(D) Expenses and Finance Costs
All expenses, including finance costs, are accounted for on an accruals basis.
All indirect expenses have been presented as revenue items per the non-allocation method except as follows:
– transaction costs incurred on the acquisition or disposal of investments are expensed either as part of the unrealised
gain/loss on investments (for acquisition costs) or as a deduction from the proceeds of sale (for disposal costs).
Finance costs are calculated using the effective interest rate method and are accounted for on an accruals basis.
(E) Taxation
The tax expense represents the sum of the overseas withholding tax deducted from investment income, tax currently
payable and deferred tax.
The tax currently payable is based on the taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in
the Statement of Comprehensive Income because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible
in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The Company’s liability for current tax is
calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.
In line with the recommendations of the SORP, the allocation method used to calculate tax relief on expenses presented
against capital returns in the supplementary information in the Statement of Comprehensive Income is the ‘marginal
basis’. Under this basis, if taxable income is capable of being offset entirely by expenses presented in the revenue return
column of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, then no tax relief is transferred to the capital return column.
Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on temporary differences between the carrying amounts
of assets and liabilities in the Financial Statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable
profit, and is accounted for using the balance sheet liability method. Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for all taxable
temporary differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will be
available against which deductible temporary differences can be utilised.
Investment trusts which have approval as such under section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 are not liable for
taxation on capital gains.
The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the extent that it is no
longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered.
Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is
realised based on tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.
Deferred tax is charged or credited in the Statement of Comprehensive Income, except when it relates to items charged or
credited directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity.
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Notes to the Financial Statements continued
(F) Investments Held at Fair Value Through Profit or loss
When a purchase or sale is made under contract, the terms of which require delivery within the timeframe of the relevant
market, the investments concerned are recognised or derecognised on the trade date and are initially measured at fair value.
On initial recognition the Company has designated all of its investments as held at fair value through profit or loss as
defined by UK-adopted IAS.
All investments are measured at subsequent reporting dates at fair value, which is either the bid price or the last traded price,
depending on the convention of the exchange on which the investment is quoted. Investments in unit trusts or OEICs are
valued at the closing price, the bid price or the single price as appropriate, as released by the relevant investment manager.
IFRS 13 defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly
transaction between market participants at the measurement date.
Fair values for unquoted investments, or for investments for which there is only an inactive market, are established by using
various valuation techniques. These may include recent arms length market transactions, the current fair value of another
instrument that is substantially the same, discounted cash flow analysis and option pricing models. Where there is a valuation
technique commonly used by market participants to price the instrument and that technique has been demonstrated to
provide reliable estimates of prices obtained in actual market transactions, that technique is utilised. Where no reliable fair
value can be estimated for such instruments, they are carried at cost, subject to any provision for impairment.
Changes in fair value of all investments held at fair value and realised gains and losses on disposal are recognised in the
capital return column of the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
(G) Receivables
Receivables are initially recognised at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost. Receivables do not carry
any interest and are short-term in nature and are accordingly stated at their nominal value (amortised cost) as reduced by
appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts.
(H) Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash comprises cash on hand and demand deposits. Cash equivalents are short-term maturity of three months or less,
highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash on demand. These include investments in
AAA-rated money market funds.
The Company’s investment in BlackRock’s Institutional Cash Series plc – US Treasury Fund of £228,691,000 (2025: £21,367,000)
is managed as part of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents as defined under IAS 7. This is measured at fair value through
profit or loss and is classified as Level 1 in the IFRS13 fair value hierarchy.
In the Balance Sheet overdrafts at bank and derivative clearing houses are shown within current liabilities.
(I) Payables
Payables are initially recognised at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost. Payables are not interest
bearing and are stated at their nominal value (amortised cost).
(J) Bank Loans
Interest bearing bank loans are initially recognised at cost, being the proceeds received net of direct issue costs, and
subsequently at amortised cost. The amounts falling due for repayment within one year are included under current
liabilities in the Balance Sheet.
(K) Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company’s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of changes in market prices, foreign currency exchange
rates and interest rates. Derivative transactions which the Company may enter into comprise forward exchange contracts,
the purpose of which is to manage the currency risks arising from the Company’s investing activities, quoted options on
shares held within the portfolio, or on indices appropriate to sections of the portfolio, the purpose of which is to provide
additional capital return.
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The use of financial derivatives is governed by the Company’s policies as approved by the Board, which has set written
principles for the use of financial derivatives.
A derivative instrument is considered to be used for hedging purposes when it alters the market risk profile of an existing
underlying exposure of the Company. The use of financial derivatives by the Company does not qualify for hedge
accounting under UK-adopted IAS. As a result, changes in the fair value of derivative instruments are recognised in the
Statement of Comprehensive Income as they arise. If capital in nature, associated change in value is presented in the
capital return column of the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
(L) Rates of Exchange
Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into Sterling at the rate of exchange ruling on the date of each
transaction. Monetary assets, monetary liabilities and equity investments in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date
are translated into Sterling at the rates of exchange ruling on that date. Realised profits or losses on exchange, together
with differences arising on the translation of foreign currency assets or liabilities, are taken to the capital return column of
the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
Foreign exchange gains and losses arising on investments held at fair value are included within changes in fair value.
(M) Share Capital
Represents the nominal value of authorised and allotted, called-up and fully paid shares issued.
(N) Capital Reserves
Capital reserve - gains/losses on disposal includes:
– gains/losses on disposal of investments
– exchange differences on currency balances and on settlement of loan balances
– cost of own shares bought back
– other capital charges and credits charged to this account in accordance with the accounting policies above
Capital reserve - revaluation on investments held includes:
– increases and decreases in the valuation of investments and loans held at the year end.
All of the above are accounted for in the Statement of Comprehensive Income except the cost of own shares bought back
or issued which are accounted for in the Statement of Changes in Equity.
(O) Repurchase of Ordinary Shares (including those held in treasury)
Where applicable, the costs of repurchasing ordinary shares including related stamp duty and transaction costs are taken
directly to equity and reported through the Statement of Changes in Equity as a charge on the capital reserve. Share
repurchase transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis.
The nominal value of ordinary share capital repurchased and cancelled is transferred out of called up share capital and into
the capital redemption reserve.
Where shares are repurchased and held in treasury, the transfer to capital redemption reserve is made if and when such
shares are subsequently cancelled.
(P) Share Issue Costs
Costs incurred directly in relation to the issue of new shares together with additional share listing costs have been
deducted from the share premium reserve.
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Notes to the Financial Statements continued
(Q) Segmental Reporting
Under IFRS 8, ‘Operating Segments’, operating segments are considered to be the components of an entity about which
separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker in deciding
how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The chief operating decision maker has been identified as the
Manager (with oversight from the Board).
The Board is of the opinion that the Company is engaged in a single segment of business, namely by investing in a
diversified portfolio of technology companies from around the world in accordance with the Company’s Investment
Objective, and consequently no segmental analysis is provided.
In line with IFRS 8, additional disclosure by geographical segment has been provided in Note 26.
Further analyses of expenses, investment gains or losses, profit and other assets and liabilities by country have not been given
as either it is not possible to prepare such information in a meaningful way or the results are not considered to be significant.
(R) Key Estimates and Judgements
Estimates and assumptions used in preparing the Financial Statements are reviewed on an ongoing basis and are based on
historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The results of
these estimates and assumptions form the basis of making judgements about carrying values of assets and liabilities that
are not readily apparent from other sources.
The only estimates and assumptions that may cause material adjustment to the carrying value of assets and liabilities
relate to the valuation of unquoted investments and investments for which there is an inactive market. These are valued in
accordance with the techniques set out in Note 2(f). At the year end, there was no unquoted investments (2025: same).
The majority of the Company’s investments are in US Dollars, the level of which varies from time to time. In determining
the functional currency the Board considered the indicators in IAS 21 and the guidance in the AIC SORP. The Board
considered that the indicators were mixed as although the Company’s investments are predominantly denominated in
USD, the majority of the Company’s operating expenses and the Company’s shares are denominated in Sterling. The
Board consider that Sterling best reflects the economic environment in which the Company operates and is most relevant
to the majority of the Company’s Shareholders and creditors, and therefore concluded that the Company’s functional
currency is Sterling.
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(S) New and Revised Accounting Standards
There were no new UK-adopted IAS or amendments to UK-adopted IAS applicable to the current year which had any
significant impact on the Company’s Financial Statements.
i) The following new or amended standards became effective for the current annual reporting period and the adoption
of the standards and interpretations have not had a material impact on the Financial Statements of the Company.
Standards & Interpretations
Effective for periods
commencing on or after
Lack of Exchangeability (Amendments to
IAS 21)
The amendments specify how to assess whether a
currency is exchangeable and how to determine a spot
exchange rate if it is not.
1 January 2025
ii) At the date of authorisation of the Company’s Financial Statements, the following relevant standards that potentially
impact the Company are in issue but are not yet effective and have not been applied in the Financial Statements:
Standards & Interpretations
Effective for periods
commencing on or after
Annual Improvements to IFRS
Accounting Standards—Volume 11
The amendments clarify the requirements for:
Hedge accounting by a first-time adopter (IFRS 1 First-
time Adoption of International Financial Reporting
Standards); Gain or loss on derecognition (IFRS 7 Financial
Instruments: Disclosures); Transaction price (IFRS 9 Financial
Instruments); Derecognition of lease liabilities (IFRS 9);
Determination of a ‘de facto agent’ (IFRS 10 Consolidated
Financial Statements) and Cost method (IAS 7 Statement of
Cash Flows).
1 January 2026
Amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7—
Amendments to the Classification and
Measurement of Financial Instruments
The amendments address two of the issues identified
during the post-implementation review of IFRS 9, being
the derecognition of a financial liability settled through
electronic transfer and the classification of financial
assets, it also introduces new and amended disclosure
requirements.
1 January 2026
IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in
Financial Statements (issued on 9 April
2024)
The amendment sets out requirements for the presentation
and disclosure of information in general purpose
financial statements to help ensure they provide relevant
information that faithfully represents an entity’s assets,
liabilities, equity, income and expenses.
1 January 2027
IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public
Accountability
The amendments permits eligible subsidiaries to prepare
financial statements using significantly reduced disclosure
requirements while maintaining standard IFRS recognition,
measurement, and presentation principle.
1 January 2027
The Directors expect that the adoption of the standards listed above will have either no impact or that any impact will not be
material on the Financial Statements of the Company in future periods.
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Notes to the Financial Statements continued
3 Investment income
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Revenue:
UK dividend income 389 58
Overseas dividend income 23,863 18,997
24,252 19,055
Capital:
Special dividends allocated to capital 266 -
All investment income is derived from listed investments.
Included within income from investments is £206,000 (2025: £48,000) of special dividends classified as revenue in nature in
accordance with Note 2(c). £266,000 (2025: £nil) of special dividends have been recognised in capital as the dividend paid
out of the proceeds from the disposal of certain businesses.
4 Other operating income
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Bank interest 4,304 3,932
Money market fund interest 4,235 2,377
8,539 6,309
5 Gains on investments held at fair value
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Net gains on disposal of investments at historic cost 1,813,952 695,869
Transfer on disposal of investments (327,702) (618,762)
Gains on disposal of investments based on carrying value at previous balance sheet date 1,486,250 77,107
Valuation gains on investments held during the year 2,302,442 51,416
3,788,692 128,523
6 (Losses)/gains on derivatives
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
(Losses)/gains on disposal of derivatives held (15,472) 10,212
Losses on revaluation of derivatives held (13,364) (7,445)
(28,836) 2,767
The derivative financial instruments represent the call and put options, which are used for the purpose of efficient
portfolio management. Refer to page 113 for further details.
7 Other currency gains/(losses)
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Exchange losses on currency balances (6,382) (2,573)
Exchange gains on settlement of loan balances - 9,753
Exchange gains/(losses) on translation of loan balances 8,287 (8,829)
1,905 (1,649)
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8 Investment management fee
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Investment management fee paid to Polar Capital (charged wholly to revenue) 35,825 30,854
The basis for calculating the investment management fee is set out in the Strategic Report on page 53 and details of all
amounts payable to the Manager are given in Note 24 on page 118.
A revised Investment Management Agreement was put in place with the Manager which took effect from 1 May 2025.
The new base management fee is structured over two tiers, and the performance fee has been removed entirely. Details of
the revised terms of the investment management agreement are disclosed in the Strategic Report on page 53.
9 Other administrative expenses
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Directors' fees and expenses
1
269 254
National insurance contributions 36 27
Depositary fees
2
341 264
Registrar fees 78 61
Custody and other bank charges
3
641 475
UKLA and LSE listing fees
4
361 269
Legal & professional fees and other financial services
5
19 56
AIC fees 28 22
Auditors' remuneration - for audit of the Financial Statements 84 82
Directors' and officers' liability insurance 68 50
Corporate brokers' fees
6
15 -
Shareholder communications
7
109 60
Other expenses
8
2 24
2,051 1,644
1 Full disclosure is given in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on page 82.
2 Depositary fees are based on the value of the net assets. The daily average net asset value rose by 30% compared to the previous year.
3 Custody fees are based on the value of the assets and geographical activity and determined on the pre-approved rate card with HSBC.
4 Fees are based on the market capitalisation of the Company which has risen over the last invoice period.
5 2025 includes legal cost of new loan agreement.
6 Following the change in broker on 12 January 2026, the annual retainer fee is £50,000, of which £15,000 was charged to the current financial year.
Under the previous broker arrangement, the 2025/2026 annual fee was offset by the commission credit on share repurchases.
7 Includes bespoke promotional marketing cost.
8 2025 includes external third party Board evaluation cost.
10 Finance costs
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Interest on loans and overdrafts 1,595 1,762
Loan arrangement and facility fees - 24
1,595 1,786
112
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
11 Taxation
a) Analysis of tax charge for the year:
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Overseas tax 2,876 2,366
Total tax for the year (see Note 11b) 2,876 2,366
b) Factors affecting tax charge for the year:
The charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the Statement of Comprehensive Income as follows:
Profit before tax 3,755,347 120,721
Tax at the UK corporation tax rate of 25% (2025: 25%) 938,837 30,180
Tax effect of non-taxable dividends (6,063) (4,764)
Tax effect of gains on investments that are not taxable (940,507) (32,410)
Unrelieved current year expenses and deficits 7,733 6,994
Overseas tax suffered 2,876 2,366
Total tax for the year (see Note 11a) 2,876 2,366
c) Factors that may affect future tax charges:
There is an unrecognised deferred tax asset comprising:
Unrelieved management expenses 87,412 79,679
Non-trading loan relationship deficits 1,807 1,807
89,219 81,486
The deferred tax asset is based on corporation tax rate of 25% (2025: 25%).
The Company has an unrecognised deferred tax asset of £87,412,000 (2025: £79,679,000) arising from surplus
management expenses of £349,647,000 (2025: £318,715,000) and unrecognised deferred tax asset of £1,807,000
(2025: £1,807,000) arising from non-trade loan relationship deficits of £7,227,000 (2025: £7,227,000) based on a
corporation tax rate of 25% (2025: 25%). Given the composition of the Company’s portfolio, it is not likely that these assets
will be utilised in the foreseeable future and therefore no asset has been recognised in the accounts.
Due to the Company’s tax status as an investment trust and the intention to continue meeting the conditions required to
maintain approval of such status in the foreseeable future, the Company has not provided tax on any capital gains arising
on the revaluation or disposal of investments held by the Company.
12 Earnings per ordinary share
Year ended 30 April 2026 Year ended 30 April 2025
Revenue
return
Capital
return
Total
return
Revenue
return
Capital
return
Total
return
The calculation of basic earnings
per ordinary share is based on
the following data:
Net profit for the year (£'000) (9,556) 3,762,027 3,752,471 (11,286) 129,641 118,355
Weighted average ordinary
shares in issue during the year
1,135,674,563 1,135,674,563 1,135,674,563 1,187,532,192 1,187,532,192 1,187,532,192
From continuing operations
Basic - earnings per ordinary
shares (pence)
(0.84) 331.26 330.42 (0.95) 10.92 9.97
As at 30 April 2026 there are no potentially dilutive shares in issue and the earnings per ordinary share therefore equate
to those shown above (2025: there was no dilution).
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13 Investments held at fair value through profit or loss
i) Investments held at fair value through profit or loss
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Opening book cost 2,979,243 2,460,764
Opening investment holding gains 685,648 1,252,994
Opening fair value 3,664,891 3,713,758
Analysis of transactions made during the year
Purchases at cost 7,594,367 4,475,207
Sales proceeds received (8,201,304) (4,652,597)
Gains on investments held at fair value 3,788,692 128,523
Closing fair value 6,846,646 3,664,891
Closing book cost 4,186,258 2,979,243
Closing investment holding gains 2,660,388 685,648
Closing fair value 6,846,646 3,664,891
Of which:
Listed on a recognised Stock Exchange 6,846,646 3,664,891
The Company received £8,201,304,000 (2025: £4,652,597,000) from disposal of investments in the year. The book cost of
these investments when they were purchased were £6,387,352,000 (2025: £3,956,728,000). These investments have been
revalued over time and until they were sold any unrealised gains/losses were included in the fair value of the investments.
Included in purchases at cost are transaction costs of £4,512,000 (2025: £2,320,000). Included in proceeds of disposals
are transaction costs of £5,050,000 (2025: £2,971,000). These costs primarily comprise commission.
ii) Changes in derivative financial instruments
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Valuation at 1 May 12,958 9,557
Additions at cost 280,398 99,770
Proceeds of disposal (240,483) (99,136)
(Losses)/gains on disposal (15,472) 10,212
Valuation losses (13,364) (7,445)
Valuation at 30 April 24,037 12,958
The derivative financial instruments represent the call and put options, which are used for the purpose of efficient
portfolio management. As at 30 April 2026, the Company held NASDAQ 100 Stock Index put option and the market
value of this open put option positions was £11,187,000 (2025: NASDAQ 100 Stock Index put options with a market
value of £5,905,000). The Company also held Microsoft Corp call option and Apple Inc call options, the market value
of these open call option position were £2,650,000 and £10,200,000 respectively (2025: Microsoft Corp call option and
Apple Inc call options, the market value of these open call option position were £11,000 and £7,042,000 respectively).
iii) Classification under Fair Value Hierarchy:
The table below sets out the fair value measurements using the IFRS 13 fair value hierarchy. Categorisation within the
hierarchy has been determined on the basis of the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement of
the relevant asset as follows:
Level 1 - valued using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets.
Level 2 - valued by reference to valuation techniques using observable inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1.
Level 3 - valued by reference to valuation techniques using inputs that are not based on observable market data.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
The valuation techniques used by the Company are explained in the accounting policies note on page 106.
Year ended
30 April 2026
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
£’000
Equity Investments and derivative financial instruments
Level 1 6,859,496 3,671,944
Level 2 11,187 5,905
Level 3 - -
6,870,683 3,677,849
As at the year ended 30 April 2026, £11,187,000 (2025: £5,905,000) of NASDAQ 100 Stock Index put options held
by the Company have been classified as Level 2 due to the absence of regular trading activity levels closer to the
measurement date. All other options held at the current and prior year end have been classified as Level 1.
There has been no transfer between Levels 1, 2 and 3 during the year ended 30 April 2026 (2025: same).
iv) Unquoted investments
As at 30 April 2026, the portfolio comprised no unquoted investment (2025: same):
14 Receivables
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Sales for future settlement 53,767 38,356
Prepayments and accrued income 3,700 1,385
VAT recoverable 80 60
57,547 39,801
The carrying values of other receivables approximate their fair value.
15 Cash and cash equivalents
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Cash at bank 344,219 167,544
Cash held at derivative clearing houses 10,702 -
Money market funds 228,691 21,367
Cash and cash equivalents 583,612 188,911
Overdraft at bank and derivative clearing houses - (1,046)
583,612 187,865
As at 30 April 2026, the Company held BlackRock’s Institutional Cash Series plc – US Treasury Fund with a market value
of £228,691,000 (2025: £21,367,000), which is managed as part of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents as defined
under IAS 7.
As defined under IAS 7, the bank overdraft is included in the Company’s cash and cash equivalents as it is repayable on
demand and forms an integral part of the Company’s cash management.
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16 Payables
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Purchases for future settlement 112,951 17,680
Repurchase of ordinary shares awaiting settlement - 1,798
Accruals 4,117 2,859
117,068 22,337
The carrying values of other payables approximate their fair value.
17 Bank loans
i) Bank loans
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
The Company has the following secured Japanese Yen loan at current and prior year end:
JPN¥ 15bn at a rate of 2.106% repayable 30 September 2027 70,443 78,730
70,443 78,730
The bank loan held at the year end is a Japanese Yen 15 billion three-year fixed rate term loan with The Bank of Nova
Scotia. The loan is secured but is subject to certain undertakings and restrictions, all of which have been complied
with during the year. The carrying value of the loan is substantially the same as fair value. This loan is repayable on
30 September 2027.
The main covenants relating to the above loan are:
(i) The Company’s adjusted asset coverage shall not at any time be less than 4.00 to 1.00;
(ii) The Company’s minimum net asset value shall be £2 billion.
ii) Reconciliation of bank loans
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Bank loan held as at 30 April 2025 78,730 48,036
Term loan of JPN¥ 3.8bn and US$ 36m under September 2022 facility due to expire in
September 2024
- (46,689)
Term loan of JPN¥ 15bn under September 2024 facility due to expire in September 2027 - 78,307
Exchange gains on settlement of loan balances - (9,753)
Effect of changes in foreign exchange rates on bank loans held (8,287) 8,829
Bank loans held as at 30 April 2026 70,443 78,730
The movement in the liability arising from the bank loans due to changes in foreign exchange rates is a non-cash
movement and is included in the Statement of Comprehensive Income within ‘Other currency gains/(losses)’.
116
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
18 Share capital
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Ordinary shares–Allotted, Called up and Fully paid:
Ordinary shares of nominal value 2.5p each
Opening balance of 1,170,007,019 (2025: 1,206,215,690) ordinary shares in issue 29,250 30,155
Repurchase of 55,803,823 (2025: 36,208,671) ordinary shares into treasury (1,395) (905)
1,114,203,196 (2025: 1,170,007,019) ordinary shares in issue 27,855 29,250
258,946,804 (2025: 203,142,981) ordinary shares held in treasury 6,474 5,079
Total of 1,373,150,000 (2025: 1,373,150,000) shares 34,329 34,329
During the year a total of 55,803,823 (2025: 36,208,671) ordinary shares were repurchased into treasury for a total
consideration £232,488,000 (2025: £117,935,000).
Subsequent to the year end, and to 2 July 2026 (latest practicable date), 7,051,976 ordinary shares were repurchased into
treasury at an average price of 686.33p per share.
19 Capital redemption reserve
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
As at 1 May 2025 12,802 12,802
At 30 April 2026 12,802 12,802
The Capital Redemption Reserve represents the nominal value of shares repurchased and cancelled.
This reserve is not distributable.
20 Share premium
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
As at 1 May 2025 223,374 223,374
At 30 April 2026 223,374 223,374
The share premium arises from excess of consideration received on the issue of the shares over the nominal value.
This reserve is not distributable.
21 Special non-distributable reserve
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
As at 1 May 2025 7,536 7,536
At 30 April 2026 7,536 7,536
The special non-distributable reserve arose from the issue of warrants which were issued by the Company at launch in
1996. The final warrant conversion was exercised in 2005.
This reserve is not distributable.
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22 Capital reserves
Capital*
reserve -
gains/losses
on disposal
30 April 2026
£’000
Capital**
reserve -
revaluation
30 April 2026
£’000
Total
capital
reserves
30 April 2026
£’000
Capital
reserve -
gains/losses
on disposal
30 April 2025
£’000
Capital
reserve -
revaluation
30 April 2025
£’000
Total
capital
reserves
30 April 2025
£’000
As at 1 May 2025 3,010,049 670,963 3,681,012 2,414,787 1,254,583 3,669,370
Net gains on disposal of investments 1,486,250 - 1,486,250 77,107 - 77,107
Transfer on disposal of investments 327,702 (327,702) - 618,762 (618,762) -
Valuation gains on investments held during
the year
- 2,302,442 2,302,442 - 51,416 51,416
Net (losses)/gains on derivative contracts (15,472) (13,364) (28,836) 10,212 (7,445) 2,767
Special dividends allocated to capital 266 - 266 - - -
Exchange losses on currency balances (6,382) - (6,382) (2,573) - (2,573)
Exchange gains on settlement of loan balances - - - 9,753 - 9,753
Exchange gains/(losses) on translation of loan
balances
- 8,287 8,287 - (8,829) (8,829)
Share split costs - - - (64) - (64)
Ordinary shares repurchased into treasury (231,333) - (231,333) (117,349) - (117,349)
Stamp duty on ordinary shares repurchased
into treasury
(1,155) - (1,155) (586) - (586)
At 30 April 2026 4,569,925 2,640,626 7,210,551 3,010,049 670,963 3,681,012
* These are realised distributable capital reserves which may be used to repurchase the Company’s shares or be distributed as dividends.
** This reserve comprises holdings gains on investments (which may become realised) and other amounts, which are unrealised. An analysis has not been
made between the amounts that are realised (and maybe distributed or used to repurchase the Company’s shares) and those that are unrealised.
23 Revenue reserve
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
As at 1 May 2025 (154,164) (142,878)
Loss for the year to 30 April (9,556) (11,286)
At 30 April 2026 (163,720) (154,164)
The revenue reserve may be distributed or used to repurchase the Company’s shares (subject to being a positive balance).
118
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
24 Transactions with the Manager and related party transactions
(a) Transactions with the Manager
Under the terms of an agreement dated 9 February 2001 the Company has appointed Polar Capital LLP (Polar Capital)
to provide investment management, accounting, secretarial and administrative services. Details of the fee arrangement
for these services are given in the Strategic Report. The total management fees, paid under this agreement to Polar
Capital in respect of the year ended 30 April 2026 were £35,825,000 (2025: £30,854,000) of which £3,565,000 (2025:
£2,246,000) was outstanding at the year end.
In addition, the research costs and the first £200,000 of marketing costs per annum are borne by the Manager.
A revised Investment Management Agreement was put in place with the Manager which took effect on 1 May 2025. The
new base management fee is structured over two tiers, and the performance fee has been removed entirely. Details of the
revised terms of the Investment Management Agreement are disclosed in the Strategic Report on page 53.
(b) Related party transactions
The compensation payable to key management personnel in respect of short term Directors’ remuneration is £269,000
(2025: £254,000) which comprises £269,000 (2025: £254,000) paid by the Company to the Directors.
Refer to page 83 for the Directors’ Remuneration Report including Directors’ shareholdings and movements within the
year.
25 Net asset value per ordinary share
Net asset value per share
30 April 2026 30 April 2025
Undiluted:
Net assets attributable to ordinary Shareholders (£'000) 7,324,872 3,804,889
Ordinary shares in issue at end of year 1,114,203,196 1,170,007,019
Net asset value per ordinary share (pence) 657.41 325.20
As at 30 April 2026, there were no potentially dilutive shares in issue (2025: there was no dilution).
26 Segmental reporting
Geographical segments
Since the Company does not have external customers an analysis of the Company’s investments held at 30 April 2026 by
geographical segment and the related investment income earned during the year to 30 April 2026 is noted below:
30 April 2026
Value of
investments
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2026
Gross
income
£’000
30 April 2025
Value of
investments
£’000
Year ended
30 April 2025
Gross
income
£’000
North America (inc. Latin America) 4,602,475 10,907 2,766,589 10,368
Europe 387,576 4,009 239,691 1,246
Asia Pacific (inc. Middle East) 1,856,595 9,336 658,611 7,441
Total 6,846,646 24,252 3,664,891 19,055
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27 Derivatives and other financial instruments
Risk management policies and procedures
The Company invests in equities and other financial instruments for the long term to further the Investment Objective set
out on page 50. This exposes the Company to a range of financial risks that could impact on the assets or performance of
the Company.
The main risks arising from the Company’s pursuit of its Investment Objective are market risk, liquidity risk, credit risk
and gearing risk and the Directors’ approach to the management of them is set out below. The risks have remained
unchanged since the beginning of the year to which the Financial Statements relate.
The Company’s exposure to financial instruments comprise:
- Equity and non-equity shares which are held in the investment portfolio in accordance with the Company’s Investment
Objective.
- Term loans and bank overdrafts, the main purpose of which is to raise finance for the Company’s operations.
- Cash, money market funds, liquid resources and short-term receivables and payables that arise directly from the
Company’s operations.
- Derivative transactions which the Company enters into may include equity or index options, index future contracts,
forward foreign exchange contracts and interest rate swaps.
The purpose of these is to manage the market price risks, foreign exchange risks and interest rate risks arising from the
Company’s investment activities.
The overall management of the risks is determined by the Board and its approach to each risk identified is set out below.
The Board and the Investment Manager co-ordinate the risk management and the Investment Manager assesses the
exposure to market risk when making each investment decision.
(a) Market Risk
Market risk comprises three types of risk: market price risk (see Note 27(a)(i)), currency risk (see Note 27(a)(ii)), and interest
rate risk (see Note 27(a)(iii)).
(i) Market Price Risk
The Company is an investment company and as such its performance is dependent on the valuation of its investments.
Consequently, market price risk is the most significant risk that the Company faces.
Market price risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future prices of financial instruments used in the Company’s
operations.
It represents the potential loss the Company might suffer through holding market positions in the face of price
movements.
A detailed breakdown of the investment portfolio is given on pages 37 to 40. Investments are valued in accordance with
the Company’s accounting policies as stated in Note 2(f).
At the year end, the Company’s portfolio included derivative instruments of £24,037,000 (2025: £12,958,000).
120
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
Management of the risk
In order to manage this risk, it is the Board’s policy to hold an appropriate spread of investments in the portfolio in order
to reduce both the statistical risk and the risk arising from factors specific to a particular technology sector. The allocation
of assets to international markets, together with stock selection covering small, medium and large companies, and the use
of index options, are other factors which act to reduce price risk. The Investment Manager actively monitors market prices
throughout the year and reports to the Board which meets regularly in order to consider investment strategy.
Market price risk exposure
The Company’s exposure to changes in market prices at 30 April on its quoted and unquoted investments was as follows:
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Non-current asset investments at fair value through profit or loss 6,846,646 3,664,891
Derivative financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss 24,037 12,958
6,870,683 3,677,849
An analysis of the Company’s portfolio is shown on pages 33 to 40.
Market price risk sensitivity
The following table illustrates the sensitivity of the return after taxation for the year and the value of Shareholders’ funds
to an increase or decrease of 20% (2025: 20%) in the fair values of the Company’s investments. This level of change is
considered to be reasonably possible based on observation of current market conditions and historic trends. The sensitivity
analysis is based on the Company’s investments at each balance sheet date, with all other variables held constant.
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Increase in
fair value
£’000
Decrease in
fair value
£’000
Increase in
fair value
£’000
Decrease in
fair value
£’000
Revenue return (8,245) 8,245 (4,413) 4,413
Capital return 1,374,137 (1,374,137) 735,570 (735,570)
Change to the profit after tax for the year 1,365,892 (1,365,892) 731,157 (731,157)
Change to Shareholders' funds 1,365,892 (1,365,892) 731,157 (731,157)
Change to NAV per share (pence) 122.59 (122.59) 62.49 (62.49)
(ii) Currency Risk
The Company’s total return and net assets can be significantly affected by currency translation movements as the majority
of the Company’s assets and revenue are denominated in currencies other than Sterling.
Management of the risk
The Investment Manager mitigates individual currency risks through the international spread of investments and
manages foreign exchange exposure relative to the benchmark. The Company does not generally hedge its exposure
to foreign currency but retains the ability to hedge currency exposure if the Board and Investment Manager consider
that circumstances warrant it. Borrowings in foreign currencies are entered into to manage the asset exposure to those
currencies, which vary according to the asset allocation.
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Foreign currency exposure
The table below shows, by currency, the split of the Company’s non-Sterling monetary assets, liabilities and investments
that are priced in currencies other than Sterling.
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Monetary Assets:
Cash and short term receivables
US Dollars 508,078 76,426
Japanese Yen 94,170 126,338
Euros 19,434 7,061
Taiwan Dollars 3,861 5,065
Korean Won 289 -
Swiss Franc 41 24
Canadian Dollars 1 1
Hong Kong Dollars - 267
Monetary Liabilities:
Payables
US Dollars (98,585) (13,767)
Euros (18,525) (2)
Japanese Yen (10,211) (136)
Taiwan Dollars (7,829) -
Hong Kong Dollars - (4,995)
Bank Loans:
Japanese Yen (70,443) (78,730)
Foreign currency exposure on net monetary items 420,281 117,552
Non-Monetary Items:
Investments at fair value through profit or loss that are equities
US Dollars 4,689,866 3,042,984
Taiwan Dollars 822,450 271,567
Japanese Yen 505,074 79,549
Korean Won 368,114 35,455
Euros 290,127 128,739
Hong Kong Dollars 87,923 87,284
Swiss Franc 19,239 -
Canadian Dollars 4,562 -
Swedish Krona - -
Investments at fair value through profit or loss that are derivatives
US Dollars 24,037 12,958
Total net foreign currency exposure 7,231,673 3,776,088
122
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
Foreign currency exchange rate movement
During the financial year Sterling appreciated by 1.7% (2025: appreciated by 6.7%) against the US Dollar, appreciated by
11.8% (2025: depreciated by 3.3%) against the Japanese Yen, depreciated by 1.4% (2025: appreciated by 0.3%) against
the Euro, appreciated by 2.8% (2025: appreciated by 5.8%) against the Hong Kong Dollar, appreciated by 6.1% (2025:
appreciated by 9.7%) against the Korean Won, appreciated by 0.8% (2025: appreciated by 4.8%) against the Taiwan
Dollar and depreciated by 3.2% (2025: appreciated by 9.7%) against the Swiss Franc.
Foreign currency sensitivity
The following table illustrates the sensitivity of the loss after tax for the year and the value of Shareholders’ funds in regard
to the financial assets and financial liabilities and the exchange rates for the £/US Dollar, £/Euro, £/Japanese Yen, £/Hong
Kong Dollar, £/Korean Won, £/Taiwan Dollar and £/Swiss Franc.
Based on the year end position, if Sterling had appreciated, by a further 15% (2025: 15%), against the currencies shown,
this would have the following effect:
30 April 2026
£’000
US Dollar Euro
Japanese
Yen
Hong Kong
Dollar
Korean
Won
Taiwan
Dollar
Swiss
Franc
Statement of Comprehensive
Income - profit/loss after tax
Revenue return (1,084) (341) (780) (63) (248) (657) (19)
Capital return (668,167) (37,848) (67,416) (11,468) (48,015) (106,759) (2,509)
Change to the profit/loss after
tax for the year
(669,251) (38,189) (68,196) (11,531) (48,263) (107,416) (2,528)
Change to Shareholders’ funds (669,251) (38,189) (68,196) (11,531) (48,263) (107,416) (2,528)
30 April 2025
£’000
US Dollar Euro
Japanese
Yen
Hong Kong
Dollar
Korean
Won
Taiwan
Dollar
Statement of Comprehensive Income - profit/
loss after tax
Revenue return (1,100) (223) (33) (58) (50) (658)
Capital return (406,766) (17,624) (16,485) (10,769) (4,625) (36,076)
Change to the profit/loss after tax for the year (407,866) (17,847) (16,518) (10,827) (4,675) (36,734)
Change to Shareholders’ funds (407,866) (17,847) (16,518) (10,827) (4,675) (36,734)
Based on the year end position, if Sterling had depreciated, by a further 15% (2025: 15%), against the currencies shown,
this would have the following effect:
30 April 2026
£’000
US Dollar Euro
Japanese
Yen
Hong Kong
Dollar
Korean
Won
Taiwan
Dollar
Swiss
Franc
Statement of Comprehensive
Income - profit/loss after tax
Revenue return 1,467 462 1,056 85 336 889 25
Capital return 903,991 51,206 91,210 15,516 64,961 144,438 3,395
Change to the profit/loss after
tax for the year
905,458 51,668 92,266 15,601 65,297 145,327 3,420
Change to Shareholders’ funds 905,458 51,668 92,266 15,601 65,297 145,327 3,420
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30 April 2025
£’000
US Dollar Euro
Japanese
Yen
Hong Kong
Dollar
Korean
Won
Taiwan
Dollar
Statement of Comprehensive Income - profit/
loss after tax
Revenue return 1,488 302 45 79 68 891
Capital return 550,331 23,844 22,304 14,570 6,257 48,809
Change to the profit/loss after tax for the year 551,819 24,146 22,349 14,649 6,325 49,700
Change to Shareholders’ funds 551,819 24,146 22,349 14,649 6,325 49,700
In the opinion of the Directors, neither of the above sensitivity analyses are representative of the year as a whole since the level
of exposure changes frequently as part of the currency risk management process used to meet the Company’s objectives.
(iii) Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate changes may affect the income received from cash at bank and interest payable on borrowings.
All cash balances earn interest at a variable rate.
The Company has additional exposure to interest rate risk in relation to its holdings in the money market funds and
receives interest income at a variable rate.
The Company finances its operations through its term loans as well as bank overdrafts and any retained gains arising from
operations.
The Company uses borrowings in the desired currencies at both fixed and floating rates of interest to both generate the
desired interest rate profile and manage the exposure to interest rate fluctuations.
The Company’s Japanese Yen three-year term loan carries a fixed rate of interest and therefore does not give rise to any
interest rate risk.
Management of the risk
The Board imposes borrowing limits to ensure gearing levels are appropriate to market conditions and reviews these on a
regular basis. The Company may also enter into interest rate swap agreements.
Interest rate exposure
The exposure, at 30 April, of financial assets and liabilities to interest rate risk is shown by reference to:
– floating interest rates (i.e. giving cash flow interest rate risk) - when the rate is due to be re-set; and
– fixed interest rates (i.e. giving fair value interest rate risk) - when the financial instrument is due for repayment.
30 April 2026 (£’000) 30 April 2025 (£’000)
Within
one year
More than
one year Total
Within
one year
More than
one year Total
Exposure to floating interest rates:
Cash held at bank and derivative clearing
houses
354,921 - 354,921 167,544 - 167,544
Overdraft at bank and derivative clearing
houses
- - - (1,046) - (1,046)
Money market funds 228,691 - 228,691 21,367 - 21,367
Exposure to fixed interest rates:
Bank loan - (70,443) (70,443) - (78,730) (78,730)
Total exposure to interest rates 583,612 (70,443) 513,169 187,865 (78,730) 109,135
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements continued
As at year ended 30 April 2026, the Company held a three-year fixed rate term loan of Japanese Yen 15bn (2025:
Japanese Yen 15bn) with The Bank of Nova Scotia. The Japanese Yen loan carries an interest rate of 2.106% (2025:
2.106%) per annum, which falls due for repayment on 30 September 2027.
Interest rate sensitivity
The sensitivity analysis is based on the Company’s monetary financial instruments held at each balance sheet date, with all
other variables held constant.
The table below illustrates the Company’s sensitivity to interest rate movements, with a change of 1.5% (2025: 1.5%)
per annum in the rates of interest available to the Company’s financial assets and liabilities. The effect on the revenue and
capital return after tax and the value of Shareholders’ funds are as follows if rates increased:
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Statement of Comprehensive Income - profit/loss after tax
Revenue return 7,698 1,637
Capital return - -
Change to the profit/loss after tax for the year 7,698 1,637
Change to Shareholders' funds 7,698 1,637
A corresponding decrease in the rate would have equal and opposite effect to that shown in the table above.
This level of change is considered to be reasonably possible based on observation of current market conditions. This is
not representative of the year as a whole, since the exposure changes as level of cash/(loans) held during the year will be
affected by the strategy being followed in response to the Investment Manager’s perception of market prospects and the
investment opportunities available at any particular time.
(b) Liquidity Risk
Liquidity risk is the possibility of failure of the Company to realise sufficient assets to meet its financial liabilities.
Management of the risk
The Company’s assets mainly comprise readily realisable securities which may be sold to meet funding requirements as
necessary.
Liquidity risk exposure
The maturity of the Company’s existing borrowings are set out in Note 17 to the Financial Statements. Short-term
flexibility is achieved through the use of overdraft facilities.
At 30 April the financial liabilities comprised of:
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Due within 1 month:
Balances due to brokers 112,951 17,680
Repurchase of ordinary shares awaiting settlement - 1,798
Accruals 3,995 2,723
Overdraft at bank and derivative clearing houses - 1,046
Due after 3 months and within 1 year:
Bank loan interest (2025: Bank loan interest) 622 1,794
Due after 1 year and within 3 years:
Bank loan and interest 71,065 81,083
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(c) Credit Risk
Credit risk is the exposure to loss from failure of a counterparty to deliver securities or cash for acquisitions or disposals of
investments or to repay deposits.
Management of the risk
The Company manages credit risk by using brokers from a database of approved brokers and by dealing through Polar Capital.
All cash balances are held with approved counterparties. HSBC Bank plc is the Custodian of the Company’s assets. The
Company’s assets are segregated from HSBC’s own trading assets and are therefore protected in the event that HSBC were to
cease trading.
These arrangements were in place throughout the current year and the prior year.
Credit risk exposure
The maximum exposure to credit risk at 30 April 2026 was £640,861,000 (2025: £228,488,000) comprising:
30 April 2026
£’000
30 April 2025
£’000
Balances due from brokers 53,767 38,356
Accrued income 3,482 1,221
Cash at bank 344,219 167,544
Cash held at derivative clearing houses 10,702 -
Money market funds 228,691 21,367
640,861 228,488
All of the above financial assets are current, their fair values are considered to be the same as the values shown and the
likelihood of a material credit default is considered low.
None of the Company’s financial assets are past due or impaired. All deposits were placed with banks that had a rating of
A or higher.
The money market fund, BlackRock’s Institutional Cash Series plc – US Treasury Fund, held by the Company as at year
ended 30 April 2026 has a rating of AAA or higher, the fund invests primarily in US Treasury bills, US Treasury Repurchase
Agreements and other similar instruments.
Investment transactions are carried out with a large number of brokers, the credit standing of each is reviewed periodically
by the Investment Manager are set on the amount that may be due from any one broker.
(d) Gearing risk
The Company’s policy is to increase its exposure to equity markets through the judicious use of borrowings. When
borrowings are invested in such markets, the effect is to magnify the impact on Shareholder’s funds of changes, both
positive and negative, in the value of the portfolio.
Management of the risk
The Company uses long-term loans to manage gearing risk, details of which can be found in Note 17.
Gearing risk exposure
The loans are valued at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method in the Financial Statements. The Board
regulates the overall level of gearing by raising or lowering cash balances.
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Notes to the Financial Statements continued
(e) Capital Management Policies and Procedures
The Company’s capital, or equity, is represented by its net assets which are managed to achieve the Company’s
Investment Objective set out on page 50.
The Board monitors and reviews the broad structure of the Company’s capital on an ongoing basis. This review includes:
(i) the planned level of gearing through the Company’s fixed rate loan facility, credit facility and
(ii) the need to issue or buy back equity shares for cancellation, which takes account of the difference between the net
asset value per share and the share price (i.e. the level of share price discount or premium).
The Company’s objectives, policies and processes for managing capital are unchanged from the preceding accounting
period.
The Company is subject to externally imposed capital requirements through the Companies Act with respect to its status
as a public company.
In addition in order to pay dividends out of profits available for distribution by way of dividend, the Company has to be
able to meet one of the two capital restriction tests imposed on investment companies by Company Law. The Company is
also subject to externally imposed capital requirements through the loan covenants set out in the loan facility.
These requirements are unchanged since the previous year end and the Company has complied with them.
28 Post Balance Sheet Event
Subsequent to the year end, and to 2 July 2026, 7,051,976 ordinary shares were repurchased and placed in the Treasury
at an average price of 686.33p per share.
There are no other significant events that have occurred after the end of the reporting period to the date of this report
which require disclosure.
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130
In assessing the performance of the Company, the Investment Manager and the Directors use the following APMs which
are not defined in accounting standards or law but are considered to be known industry metrics:
NAV Total Return
The NAV total return shows how the net asset value per share has performed over a period of time taking into account
both capital returns and dividends paid to Shareholders.
NAV total return reflects the change in value of NAV plus the dividend paid to the Shareholder. Since the Company has
not paid a dividend the NAV total return is the same as the NAV per share return as at the year ended 30 April 2026 and
30 April 2025.
Year ended
30 April 2026
Year ended
30 April 2025
Opening NAV per share a 325.20p 315.41p
Closing NAV per share b 657.41p 325.20p
NAV total return for the year (b / a)-1 102.2% 3.1%
Share Price Total Return
Share price total return shows how the share price has performed over a period of time. It assumes that dividends paid to
Shareholders are reinvested in the shares at the time the shares are quoted ex dividend.
Share price total return reflects the change in share price value plus the dividend paid to the Shareholder. Since the Company
has not paid dividends the share price total return is the same as the price per ordinary share return as at year end 30 April
2026 and 30 April 2025.
Year ended
30 April 2026
Year ended
30 April 2025
Opening share price a 288.50p 292.00p
Closing share price b 603.00p 288.50p
Share price total return for the year (b / a)-1 109.0% (1.2%)
(Discount)/Premium
A description of the difference between the share price and the net asset value per share usually expressed as a percentage (%)
of the net asset value per share. If the share price is higher than the NAV per share the result is a premium. If the share price
is lower than the NAV per share, the shares are trading at a discount. A premium or discount is generally the consequence of
supply and demand for the shares on the stock market.
30 April 2026 30 April 2025
Closing share price a 603.00p 288.50p
Closing NAV per share b 657.41p 325.20p
Discount of ordinary share price to the NAV per ordinary share (a / b)-1 (8.3%) (11.3%)
Alternative Performance Measures (APMs)
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Ongoing Charges
Ongoing charges are calculated in accordance with AIC guidance by taking the total expenses of the Company, excluding
performance fees and exceptional items, if any, and expressing them as a percentage of the average daily net asset value
of the Company over the year.
Ongoing charges include all regular operating expenses of the Company. Transaction costs, interest payments, tax and
non-recurring expenses are excluded from the calculation as are the costs incurred in relation to share issues and share
buybacks.
Year ended
30 April 2026
Year ended
30 April 2025
Investment Management Fee (Note 8 on page 111) £35,825,000 £30,854,000
Other Administrative Expenses (Note 9 on page 111) £2,051,000 £1,644,000
a £37,876,000 £32,498,000
Average daily net asset value b £5,494,959,000 £4,234,039,000
Ongoing Charges a / b 0.69% 0.77%
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Glossary of Terms
Administrator The Company’s Administrator is HSBC Bank plc who are contracted through Polar Capital
LLP to provide accounting and administrative services under the terms of the Investment
Management Agreement (IMA).
AGM Annual General Meeting – a meeting required to be held in accordance with the Companies
Act 2006, within six months of the Company’s financial year end. The AGM of the
Company will be held on Monday, 5 October 2026. Details of the arrangements will be
provided in the separate Notice of AGM and on the Company’s website.
AIC Association of Investment Companies, the industry body for closed ended investment
companies.
AIF Alternative Investment Fund – the Company is an investment trust which is a collective
investment undertaking which raises capital from a number of investors (in the case of the
Company, by selling shares in the open market on the London Stock Exchange) with a view
to investing the capital in accordance with the investment policy (see page 50).
AIFM Alternative Investment Fund Manager, a body appointed in accordance with the AIFMD
(see below). Polar Capital LLP is the appointed AIFM to the Company.
AIFMD Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. Issued by the European Parliament in 2012
and 2013. The Directive requires that, while the Board of Directors of an Investment Trust
remains fully responsible for all aspects of the Company’s strategy, operations and compliance
with regulations, all alternative investment funds (AIFs) in the UK and European Union, must
appoint a Depositary and an Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM).
Benchmark The Dow Jones Global Technology Index (total return, Sterling adjusted, with the removal
of relevant withholding taxes). The performance of the Company is measured against the
performance of the benchmark.
Closed-ended
Investment Company
An Investment company whose shares are traded in the open market, e.g., on the London
Stock Exchange.
Custodian HSBC Bank plc is the Custodian of the Company’s assets. The Custodian is a financial
institution responsible for safeguarding, worldwide, the listed securities and certain cash
assets of the Company, as well as the income arising therefrom, through provision of
custodial, settlement and associated services.
Depositary The Company’s Depositary is also HSBC Bank plc. Under AIFMD (see above) rules the
Company must appoint a Depositary whose duties in respect of investments, cash and
similar assets include: safekeeping; verification of ownership and valuation; and cash
monitoring. Under the AIFMD rules, the Depositary has strict liability for the loss of the
Company’s financial assets in respect of which it has safe-keeping duties. The Depositary’s
oversight duties will include but are not limited to share buybacks, dividend payments and
adherence to investment limits.
Derivative Derivative is a contract between two or more parties, the value of which fluctuates in
accordance with the value of an underlying security. Examples of derivatives are Put and Call
Options, Swap contracts, Futures and Contracts for Difference. The use of derivatives is to
protect the capital value of the portfolio or for efficient portfolio management. A derivative
can be an asset or a liability and is a form of gearing because it can increase the economic
exposure to Shareholders.
(Discount)/premium See Alternative Performance Measure (APM) on page 130.
Earnings per Share
(EPS)
A company’s profitability expressed on a per share basis and calculated by dividing the
company’s annual earnings after tax by the weighted average number of shares in issue.
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ESEF European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) is the requirement whereby reports are prepared
and filed in XHTML format. The requirement applied with effect from 1 January 2021 to
all issuers in UK (or EU) regulated markets. In addition, for issuers preparing consolidated
annual accounts in accordance with IFRS, the XHTML file requires tagging under the IFRS
taxonomy.
ESG Stands for Environmental, Social and Governance Principles. It’s a way for investors to
evaluate companies based on how they impact the environment and society.
Fund/Portfolio
Manager
Ben Rogoff (Lead Manager) and Ali Unwin (Deputy Fund Manager) of Polar Capital LLP have
been delegated responsibility for the creation and management of the portfolio of investments
subject to the investment policy and various parameters set by the Board of Directors.
FCA The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates the financial services industry in the UK.
Its role includes protecting consumers, keeping the industry stable, and promoting healthy
competition between financial service providers.
IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are accounting standards which are
developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International
Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The IASB sets IFRS Accounting Standards and the ISSB
sets IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
Inflation A measure of the change in the average price level of a basket of goods and services in a
particular economy.
Investment Company In Section 833 of the Companies Act 2006, an Investment Company is defined as a
company which invests its funds in shares, land or other assets with the aim of spreading
investment risk.
Investment Trust
taxation status
UK Corporation Tax law (Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010) allows an
Investment Company (referred to in Tax law as an Investment Trust) to be exempt from tax
on its profits realised on investment transactions, provided it complies with certain rules.
These are similar to Section 833 above but further require that the Company must be listed
on a regulated stock exchange and that it cannot retain more than 15% of income received.
The Directors’ Report contains confirmation of the Company’s compliance with this law and
its consequent exemption from taxation on capital gains.
KPMG The Company’s Auditor is KPMG LLP, represented by Richard De La Rue, Partner.
Leverage As defined under AIFMD rules, leverage is any method by which the exposure of an AIF
is increased through borrowing of cash or securities or leverage embedded in derivative
positions. Leverage is broadly equivalent to gearing but is expressed as a ratio between the
assets (excluding borrowings) and the net assets (after taking account of borrowings).
Liquidity The ease with which a security can be traded on the market, usually defined by turnover of
the shares divided by the number of shares in issue.
Manager/Investment
Manager
Polar Capital LLP (Polar Capital), also appointed as AIFM (see above). The responsibilities and
fees payable to Polar Capital are set out in the Strategic Report.
Market capitalisation Also sometimes referred to as ‘market cap’, this is a measure which describes the size of a
company or an investment trust. It is calculated by multiplying the number of shares by the
price of the shares.
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Net Asset Value (NAV) The NAV is the value attributed to the Shareholders of the Company less the liabilities,
presented either on a per share or total basis. The value of the Company’s assets, principally
investments made in other companies and cash being held, minus any liabilities. The NAV is
also described as ‘Shareholders’ funds’ per share. The NAV is often expressed in pence per
share after being divided by the number of shares which have been issued. The NAV per
share is unlikely to be the same as the share price which is the price at which the Company’s
shares can be bought or sold by an investor. The NAV per ordinary share is published daily.
Non-executive Director The Company is managed by a Board of Directors who are appointed by letter rather
than a contract of employment. The Company does not have any executive Directors.
Remuneration of the Non-executive Directors is set out in the Directors’ Remuneration
Report while the duties of the Board and the various Committees are set out in the
Corporate Governance Statement.
PCT or the Company Polar Capital Technology Trust Plc.
Price/earnings ratio
(P/E ratio)
A way to estimate the future earnings potential of a particular company or investment trust.
It is calculated by taking the current price and dividing it by earnings per share.
The P/E ratio also gives an indication of how quickly the Company is expected to grow – a
high PE indicates that a company is expected to see EPS grow quickly in the future.
SORP The Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for investment trust is issued by the AIC
and it provides recommendations on financial reporting that supplement official accounting
standards. (See Note 2(a) on page 104).
Treasury shares Treasury shares are the Company’s own shares that have been bought back from
Shareholders and not cancelled but held in Treasury. Such shares may be reissued into the
market at a premium to NAV. Treasury shares do not attract the right to receive dividends or
have any other voting rights.
UK-adopted IAS The international accounting standards adopted by the UK Endorsement Board after
delegation of adoption powers. These include International Accounting Standards (IAS),
IFRS and related interpretations, subsequent amendments to those standards and related
interpretations, issued or adopted by the IASB.
Volatility Volatility describes the price movement of an investment. High volatility indicates frequent
and significant price movement, whereas low volatility investments have less frequent or
severe fluctuations in price.
Yield Within the Investment Manager’s report, yield refers to the income an investor may receive
from an asset such as a share, bond or income-oriented fund. It is often expressed as a
percentage, relative to the asset price.
Glossary of Terms continued
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Corporate Information – AGM
2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The Company’s AGM will be held at 2:30pm on Monday,
5 October 2026 at the offices of Herbert Smith Freehills
Kramer, Exchange House, Primrose Street, London,
EC2A 2EG.
Further information, including the full text of the
resolutions to be proposed at the AGM and an explanation
of each resolution, is contained in the Notice of AGM
which has been posted to Shareholders and is available on
the Company’s website.
Shareholders will have the option to ask questions at the
meeting but are also encouraged to send any questions
ahead of the AGM to the Board via the Company Secretary
at cosec@polarcapital.co.uk stating the subject matter
as PCTT-AGM. We will endeavour to answer relevant
questions at the meeting.
For ease of reference and understanding a brief explanation of
the resolutions and the structure of the AGM is given below.
Resolution 1 relates to the statutory requirement of every
company to lay before Shareholders the Annual Report
and Financial Statements, i.e. this document in full. The
Annual Report has been prepared and approved by the
Board of Directors and audited by the externally appointed
auditors. The document will be filed at Companies House
once issued to Shareholders. The Annual Report sets out
the Company’s business strategy, governance structure and
procedures as well as the financial accounts for the financial
year under review and any forward-looking statements.
Resolutions 2 and 3 in compliance with the Large
and Medium- Sized Companies and Groups (Accounts
and Reports) (Amendment) Regulation 2013 (the
Regulations),The Companies (Directors’ Remuneration
Policy and Directors’ Remuneration Report) Regulations
2019 and the UK Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct
Authority, the Company is required on a three-yearly basis
to provide Shareholders with the opportunity to vote
on the Company’s Remuneration Policy. Resolution 2
seeks Shareholder approval to renew the forward-looking
Remuneration Policy which lasts for up to three years. The
current Policy was approved by Shareholders at the 2023
AGM and will expire on 30 April 2027 unless renewed.
The Policy being presented for renewal is unchanged from
the current Policy and will expire on 30 April 2030.
In addition to this, on an annual basis, Shareholders are
presented, with the Directors’ Remuneration Report which
looks back at the year under review and advises how the
Remuneration Policy was applied. Resolution 3 therefore,
is the annual advisory vote of Shareholders on the
Remuneration Report. The Directors’ Remuneration Report
is presented on pages 80 to 84.
Resolutions 4 to 7 relate to the annual re-election
of Directors. In line with good corporate governance
the tenure policy of Directors is nine years, with the
exception of the Board’s Chair tenure policy which allows
the Chair to remain in the role for up to twelve years in
certain circumstances. It is recommended that Directors
stand for re-election on an annual basis in order to give
Shareholders the opportunity to vote on each Director.
Having undergone a Board Performance Review process,
as described on page 85, the Directors have provided a
rationale for their support for those Directors standing
for re-election on pages 8 and 9 and within the Notice of
AGM.
Resolutions 8 and 9 relate to the statutory appointment
or reappointment of the Company’s external auditors and
the Directors’ authority to determine their remuneration.
Further information is provided in the Audit Committee
Report on pages 75 to 79.
Resolution 10 will, if passed, renew the Directors’
authority to allot new Ordinary shares up to an aggregate
nominal amount of £2,767,878 being 10 per cent of the
issued Ordinary share capital of the Company (excluding
treasury shares) as at close of business on 2 July 2026.
Resolution 11, which will be proposed as a special
resolution, will, if passed, renew the Directors’ existing
authority to allot new Ordinary shares or sell treasury
shares for cash without the new Ordinary shares first being
offered to existing Shareholders in proportion to their
existing holdings. This will give the Directors authority to
allot Ordinary shares or sell shares from treasury on a non
pre-emptive basis for cash up to an aggregate nominal
amount of £2,767,878 (representing 10 per cent. of the
issued Ordinary share capital of the Company (excluding
treasury shares) as at close of business on 2 July 2026).
New Ordinary shares issued under this authority will only
be issued at prices representing a premium to the last
published net asset value per share.
The authorities being sought under Resolutions 10 and 11
will expire at the conclusion of the Company’s next AGM in
2027 or, if earlier, on the expiry of 15 months from the date
of the passing of the resolutions, unless such authorities are
renewed, varied or extended prior to such time. The Board
will only utilise these authorities if it believes that to do so
would be in the best interests of Shareholders as a whole.
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Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Resolution 12, which will be proposed as a special
resolution, seeks to renew the Board’s authority to make
market purchases of the Company’s Ordinary shares
in accordance with the provisions of the Companies
Act 2006 and the FCA’s Listing Rules. Accordingly,
the Company will seek authority to purchase up to a
maximum of 14.99 per cent. of the issued Ordinary
share capital (excluding treasury shares) as at the date of
passing of the resolution. The Board does not intend to
use this authority to purchase the Company’s Ordinary
shares unless to do so would result in an increase in
the net asset value per Ordinary share and would be
in the best interests of Shareholders as a whole. Any
Ordinary shares purchased will be either cancelled or
held in treasury. The authority being sought will expire
at the conclusion of the AGM in 2027 or, if earlier, on
the expiry of 15 months from the date of the passing of
the resolution unless such authority is renewed, varied or
extended prior to such time.
Resolution 13, which will be proposed as a Special
Resolution, seeks Shareholder approval for the Company
to hold General meetings (other than the AGM) on at least
14 clear days’ notice. The Shareholder Rights Directive
increased the notice period for general meetings of
companies to 21 days unless certain conditions are met,
in which case it may be 14 days’ notice. A Shareholders’
resolution is required to ensure that the Company’s
general meetings (other than the AGM) may be held on
14 days’ notice. It is intended that this flexibility will be
used only where the Board believes it is in the best interests
of shareholders as a whole, and an explanation will be
provided. This authority shall expire at the conclusion of the
next AGM to be held in 2027, or, if earlier, on the expiry of
15 months from the date of the passing of this resolution.
Corporate Information – AGM continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
137
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
Corporate Information – Other
History and Structure
The Company was launched in 1996 with a five-yearly
continuation vote. The last continuation vote was passed at
the AGM held in September 2025 with 99% of the votes
in favour. The next continuation vote of the Company,
in accordance with the Articles of Association, will be
proposed at the AGM to be held in 2030. The Company
continues to operate as an investment trust with an
independent Board and third-party investment manager.
Termination Arrangements
The Investment Management Agreement (IMA) may be
terminated by either party giving 12 months’ notice, but
under certain circumstances the Company may be required
to pay up to one year’s management charges if immediate
notice is given. Compensation will be on a sliding scale
if less than 12 months’ notice is given. The IMA may be
terminated earlier by the Company with immediate effect
on the occurrence of certain events, including: (i) if an
order has been made or an effective resolution passed
for the liquidation of the Investment Manager; (ii) if the
Investment Manager ceases or threatens to cease to carry
on its business; (iii) where the Company is required to do so
by a relevant regulatory authority; (iv) on the liquidation of
the Company; or (v) subject to certain conditions, where the
Investment Manager commits a material breach of the IMA.
Other
In addition to the above, the Investment Manager is
responsible for the first £200,000 of marketing costs and
all research costs.
Share Capital, Voting Rights and
Transferability
The Company’s share capital is divided into ordinary
shares of 2.5p nominal value each. At 30 April 2026, there
were 1,373,150,000 ordinary shares in issue of which
258,946,804 were held in treasury (2025: 203,142,981
ordinary shares held in treasury). As at close of business on
2 July 2026, the latest practicable date prior to signing of
this report, there were 1,373,150,000 ordinary shares in
issue of which 265,998,780 were held in treasury.
Ordinary shares carry voting rights which are exercised on a
show of hands at a meeting, or on a poll, where each share
has one vote. Arrangements for the casting of proxy votes
are provided when a notice of meeting is issued.
Any shares in the Company may be held in uncertificated
form and, subject to the Articles, title to uncertificated
shares may be transferred by means of a relevant
system. Further information can be found in the Articles
of Association available on the Company’s website
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
The Company is not aware of arrangements to restrict the
votes or transferability of its shares.
Capital Gains Tax
Information on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is available on the
HM Revenue & Customs website www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/index.
When shares are disposed of a capital gain may result if
the disposal proceeds exceed the sum of the base cost of
the shares sold and any other allowable deductions such as
share dealing costs. The exercise of subscription shares into
ordinary shares should not have given rise to a capital gain,
however a capital gain may arise on the eventual disposal
of those shares. The calculations required to compute
capital gains may be complex and depend on personal
circumstances. Shareholders are advised to consult their
personal financial advisor for further information regarding
a possible tax liability in respect of their shareholdings.
Within the Document Library of the Company’s website,
launch and calculation details for CGT purposes are
provided, Shareholders may find these useful when
considering their tax position.
Dividends
The Company has not historically paid a dividend as the
objective is capital growth.
Company Website
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
The Investment Manager maintains a website on behalf of
the Company which provides a wide range of information
on the Company, monthly factsheets issued by the
Investment Manager and copies of announcements,
including the annual and half year reports when issued.
Information on the Company can also be obtained from
various other sources including:
• www.theaic.co.uk
• www.ft.com/markets
• www.londonstockexchange.co.uk
138
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Benchmark
The Company uses the Dow Jones Global Technology Index
(total return, Sterling adjusted, with the removal of relevant
withholding taxes) as the Benchmark against which Net
Asset Value (NAV) performance is measured.
Statement by the Depositary
The statement of the Depositary’s responsibilities in respect
of the Company and its report to Shareholders for the
year ended 30 April 2026 is available on the Company’s
website. The Depositary, having carried out such procedures
as it considered necessary, was satisfied that in all material
respects the Company was managed in accordance with the
applicable FCA rules and AIFMD. Polar Capital Technology
Trust plc is a public listed company on the London Stock
Exchange and complies with the Financial Conduct Authority
(FCA) UK Listing Rules. It is not directly authorised and
regulated by the FCA.
Statement By The AIFM
The statement by the AIFM in respect of matters to be
disclosed to investors for the year ended 30 April 2026 is
available on the Company’s website.
Share Price and Net Asset Value
The Company’s Net Asset Value (NAV) is normally released
daily, on the next working day, following the calculation
date, to the London Stock Exchange. The mid-market price
of the ordinary shares is published daily in the Financial
Times in the Companies and Markets section under the
heading ‘Investment Companies’. Share price information
is also available from The London Stock Exchange website:
www.londonstockexchange.co.uk
Securities Financing Transactions
The Securities Financing Transactions Regulation, as
published by the European Securities and Markets
Authority, aims to improve the transparency of the
securities financing markets. Disclosures regarding exposure
to Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs) or total return
swaps will be required on all reports & accounts published
after 13 January 2018. During the period to 30 April 2026
and at the balance sheet date, the Company did not use
SFTs or total return swaps, as such no disclosure is required.
Electronic Communications
If you hold your shares in your own name you can choose
to receive communications from the Company in electronic
format. This method reduces cost, is environmentally
friendly and, for many, is convenient.
If you would like to take advantage of Electronic
Communications, please visit our registrar’s website at
www.shareview.co.uk. You will need your Shareholder
Reference Number. If you agree to the terms and
conditions, in future, on the day that documents are sent to
Shareholders by post you will receive an e-mail providing the
website address where the documents can be viewed and
downloaded. Paper copies will still be available on request.
Disability Act
Copies of this Annual Report and Financial Statements or
other documents issued by the Company are available from
the Company Secretary. If needed, copies can be made
available in a variety of formats, either Braille or on audio
tape or larger type as appropriate.
Investing
The ordinary shares of the Company are listed and traded
on the London Stock Exchange. Investors should be aware
that the value of the Company’s ordinary shares may reflect
the greater relative volatility of technology shares.
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc is an investment trust
and as such its ordinary shares are excluded from the FCA’s
restrictions which apply to non-mainstream investment
products. The Company conducts its affairs and intends
to do so for the foreseeable future so that the exclusion
continues to apply.
There are a variety of ways to invest in the Company.
However, this will largely depend upon whether you
would like financial advice or are happy to make your own
investment decisions.
Investing Risks
Investors should be aware of the following risks when
considering investing in the shares of Polar Capital
Technology Trust plc:
Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Please remember that any investment in the shares of
Polar Capital Technology Trust either directly or through a
savings scheme or ISA carries the risk that the value of the
investment and any income from such may go down as
well as up due to the fluctuations of the share price, the
market and interest rates. This risk may result in an investor
not getting back the original amount invested.
Investors should be aware that the value of the NAV of the
Company’s shares may reflect the greater relative volatility of
technology shares. Technology shares are subject to the risks
of developing technologies, competitive pressures and other
factors including the acceptance by business and consumers
Corporate Information – Other continued
www.polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk
139
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
of new technologies. Many companies in the technology
sector are smaller companies and are therefore also subject
to the risks attendant on investing in smaller capitalisation
businesses. As the Company invests in overseas companies
changes in exchange rates may cause fluctuations in the value
of the investments and of your investment in the Company.
The Company takes on bank debt for investment purposes
(gearing) which exposes the Company to exchange risk
when the borrowings are in different currencies and the
value of the investments made with the borrowings may
fall and may not be sufficient to cover the borrowings and
interest costs. However, the Company may increase or
decrease its borrowing levels to suit market conditions.
If you are investing through a savings plan, ISA or other
investment arrangement it is important that you read the
key features documents and understand the risks associated
with investing in the shares of the Company. If you are in
any doubt as to the suitability of a plan or any investment
available within a plan, please take professional advice.
Tax rates and reliefs change from time to time and may
affect the value of your investment.
For those investors who would like advice:
Private Client Stockbrokers – generally for investors with
a large lump sum to invest, a private client stockbroker will
manage a portfolio of shares on behalf of a private investor
and will offer a personalised service to meet an individual’s
particular needs. A list of private client stockbrokers is
available from The Personal Investment Management &
Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) at www.pimfa.co.uk
Financial Advisers – carry out the share transactions for
their clients, they can do this directly but also via a growing
number of platforms that offer investment trusts including
AJ Bell, Interactive Investor, Nucleus, Raymond James,
Seven IM and Transact. For investors looking to find a
financial adviser, please visit www.unbiased.co.uk
For those investors who are happy to make their
own investment decisions:
Online Stockbroking Services – There are a number of real
time execution only stockbroker services which allow private
investors to trade online for themselves, manage a portfolio
and buy UK listed shares. Online stockbroking services include
AJ Bell, Interactive Investor, Barclays Stockbrokers, Halifax
Share Dealing and Hargreaves Lansdown.
As an investment company Shareholder, you have the right
to vote at the Company’s AGM and on other important
decisions facing the Company. If you hold your investment
company shares on a platform, we encourage you to
exercise your vote through your respective platform and
where possible attend the AGM proceedings.
For example, Interactive Investor allows you to vote your
shares at no extra cost through your account and new
customers are automatically signed up to the voting
and information service, which enables you to receive
Shareholder materials and vote on decisions directly
affecting your UK registered shareholdings.
Please visit the AIC’s pages below for further information:
https://www.theaic.co.uk/how-to-attend-an-AGM
https://www.theaic.co.uk/how-to-vote-your-shares
Share Dealing Services
The Company has also made arrangements with its share
registrars, Equiniti Limited, for investors to buy and sell
shares through the Shareview.co.uk service.
For telephone sales call 0345 603 7037 between
8.30am and 5.30pm for dealing and up to 6.00pm for
enquiries, Monday to Friday. For Internet sales log on to
www.shareview.info/products/buyandsell/.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this Annual Report and
Financial Statements contain forward-looking information
concerning the Company’s strategy, operations, financial
performance or condition, outlook, growth opportunities
or circumstances in the countries, sectors or markets in
which the Company operates.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve
uncertainty because they depend on future circumstances,
and relate to events, not all of which are within the
Company’s control or can be predicted by the Company.
Although the Company believes that the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, no assurance can be given that such
expectations will prove to have been correct.
Actual results could differ materially from those set out
in the forward-looking statements. For a detailed analysis
of the factors that may affect our business, financial
performance or results of operations, we urge you to look
at the principal risks and uncertainties included in the
Strategic Report within this Annual Report.
No part of this Annual Report constitutes, or shall be taken
to constitute, an invitation or inducement to invest in Polar
Capital Technology Trust plc or any other entity and must
not be relied upon in any way in connection with any
investment decision.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
140
Polar Capital Technology Trust plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 April 2026
Corporate Information – Other continued
Boiler Room Scams
Shareholders of the Polar Capital Technology Trust plc
may receive unsolicited phone calls or correspondence
concerning investment matters. These are typically from
overseas based ‘brokers’ who target UK Shareholders,
offering to sell them what often turn out to be worthless or
high risk shares in U.S. or UK investments or offering to act
on the shareholder’s behalf on the payment of a retainer or
similar in a spurious corporate event. These operations are
commonly known as ‘boiler rooms’. These ‘brokers’ can be
very persistent and extremely persuasive.
It is not just the novice investor that has been duped in this
way; many of the victims had been successfully investing
for several years. Shareholders are advised to be very wary
of any unsolicited advice, offers to buy shares at a discount
or offers of free company reports.
If you have been contacted by an unauthorised firm
regarding your shares the FCA would like to hear from
you. You can report an unauthorised firm using the FCA
helpline 0800 111 6768 or by visiting their website, which
also has other useful information, at www.fca.org.uk
If you receive any unsolicited investment advice:
• Make sure you get the correct name of the person and
organisation
• If the calls persist, hang up
If you deal with an unauthorised firm, you will not be
eligible to receive payment under the Financial Services
Compensation Scheme. More detailed information on this
or similar activity can be found on the FCA website.
This document is printed on Amadeus
Silk, a paper sourced from well managed,
responsible, FSC® certified forests and
other controlled sources. The pulp used in
this product is bleached using an elemental
chlorine free (ECF) process.
Registered office and address for contacting the
Directors
16 Palace Street,
London,
SW1E 5JD
020 7227 2700
Company Registered Number
Polar Capital Technology Trust Plc
(the Company)
is incorporated in England and Wales with company
number 3224867 and registered as an investment company
under section 833 of the Companies Act 2006.
Investment Manager and AIFM
Polar Capital LLP
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority
Represented by Portfolio Manager Ben Rogoff and Deputy
Manager Alastair Unwin
Company Secretary
Polar Capital Secretarial Services Limited
Represented by Kelly Nice, CG (Affiliated)
Email: cosec@polarcapital.co.uk
Independent Auditor
KPMG LLP
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
15 Canada Square,
London,
E14 5GL
Corporate Broker
Peel Hunt LLP
100 Liverpool Street,
London,
EC2M 2AT
Depositary, Bankers and Custodian
HSBC Bank PLC
8 Canada Square,
London,
E14 5HQ
Registrar
Equiniti Limited
Highdown House, Yeoman Way, Worthing, BN99 6DA
Shareholder helpline: 0371 384 2476
(or +44 (0) 371 384 2476 from overseas)
www.shareview.co.uk
Shareholders who have their shares registered in their own
name, not through a share savings scheme or ISA, can
contact the registrars with any queries on their holding.
In correspondence you should refer to Polar Capital
Technology Trust plc, stating your registered name and
address and, if available, your full account number.
Financial Calendar
The key dates in the Company’s financial year are as
follows:
30 April Financial year-end
July Announcement of year-end results
October Annual General Meeting
31 October Half-year end
December Announcement of half-year results
Identification Code
SEDOL 422002
ISIN GB00BR3YV268
TICKER PCT
BLOOMBERG PCT.LN
DATASTREAM PCT
REUTERS PCT.L
LIPPER 71000395
GIIN J29SBF.99999.SL.826
LEI 549300TN1O5392UC4K19
AIC
The Company is a member of the Association of Investment
Companies (AIC). The AIC website www.theaic.co.uk
contains detailed information about investment trusts,
including guides and statistics.
Contact Information
Overview
Manager’s
Report
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
Corporate
Governance
Financial
Statements
Shareholder
Information
The Association of
Investment Companies
CBP036658
polarcapitaltechnologytrust.co.uk