Polar Capital sees asset growth despite China slowdown

Positivity was still ringing at Polar Capital Technology Trust on Tuesday morning, although returns were down markedly.

In its half year report, the FTSE 250-listed investment firm showed total unaudited return for the six months to 31 October of £11.63m. That was down markedly on £117.54m at the same time last year.

Net assets were up, however, to £799.72m (from £719.84m last year).

"Our total return performance came in ahead of our benchmark, with the net asset value per share rising 0.8% during the first half versus a 1.0% decline for the sterling adjusted benchmark", said Polar Capital investment manager Ben Rogoff.

Polar Capital reported Amazon as being the most significant contributor to the asset growth, advancing 46% during the period.

The firm said other internet holdings such as Alphabet (formerly Google) and Facebook played a supporting role to Seattle's golden child of e-commerce, with the gaming sector also lending a hand.

"Companies such as Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft all delivered strong absolute and relative performance aided by next-generation console adoption and an increasing mix of margin-rich digital content", Rogoff added.

Polar Capital remained bullish about its prospects going forward, although China remained a sore spot given the summer crash and continued slow growth.

"If China holds together, 2016 should see EM growth reaccelerate, driven by India and "partial normalization" of a number of commodity-sensitive economies in distress this year", Rogoff said.