Henderson Technology Trust

Henderson Technology Trust plc (HTT) is an investment trust company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The fund's objective is to maximise capital growth for shareholders by investing in a diversified portfolio of technology companies around the world. Launched on 16 December 1996 at £1 per share, the current price per share is £4.36 representing an average annual rate of return of 68.82% since inception. This can be compared to a 29.84% annual rate of return by its benchmark, the FT S&P World Index. However, a more comparable benchmark would be that of the technology laden NASDAQ, which has, for the same period ended 28 April, provided an average annual rate of return of 39.16%.

The technology industry is one of the most vibrant, dynamic and rapidly growing segments in the global economy. Technology companies offer the potential for substantially faster earnings growth than the broad market, reflecting the accelerating rate of adoption of new technology. This growth is not confined to purely internet stocks but also those associated with the internet such as communication carriers and equipment suppliers. The pivotal role that technology has played in reshaping the US economy and enhancing the competitiveness of US industries has been recognised as one to emulate by Europe and Asia.

The recent volatility experienced in tech indices around the world as predominantly focused on small capitalisation and dot.com companies as well as recent listings, while the large incumbent companies, in which HTT invests, have tended to outperform.

This can be seen in HTT's portfolio with seven out of the top ten holdings providing returns ranging from 30% to 179% for the year to date, compared to a 6% increase in the NASDAQ. While HTT has experienced a slight decline in its share price from its March high, this can be contributed to current market sentiment.

Investors who wish to participate in the extraordinary potential of the technology sector but who do not have the resources to follow small companies from around the world should seriously consider Henderson Technology, which benefits from the entire resources of one of the largest managers of specialist technology funds outside the USA.

Henderson Technology invests in technology companies worldwide, with the aim of maximising capital growth. Most of the companies in which it invests are small or medium sized and the majority are based in the USA. However, a substantial proportion of assets are also invested in Asia and Europe.

Henderson Technology selects companies for their potential for generating capital growth, not on the basis of technology for its own sake. The fund managers believe in rigorous fundamental analysis and focus on:

• management quality
• the identification of new growth markets
• the globalisation of major technology trends and exploiting international valuation anomalies and sector volatility

The fund manager views technology as "uniquely positioned at the sweet spot of the deflationary cycle. Not only is the industry one of the primary drivers of deflation in the global economy, it is also its primary beneficiary as companies, faced with diminishing pricing power, are obliged to invest aggressively in technology in order to restructure their cost bases". As many people have observed, everything changes with the Internet and there are few other industries positioned on the right side of that change.

Directors

RKA Wakeling - Chairman, is 52 and was appointed to the Board and as Chairman in 1996. Formerly chief executive of Johnson Matthey plc, he is now a non-executive director of Logica plc and Oxford Instruments plc.

BJD Ashford-Russell is 40 and was appointed to the Board in 1996. He is head of the technology team at Henderson Investors, the appointed Fund Manager of the Company, and was throughout its life a director and the fund manager of TR Technology plc.

GC Clarke is 54 and was appointed to the Board in 1996. He is the managing director of Witan Investment Company plc and was a director of Henderson plc until its acquisition by AMP in 1998.

PF Dicks is 56 and was appointed to the Board in 1996. He is a director of Standard Microsystems Corporation and Action Computer Supplies Holdings plc, and Chairman of Second London American Trust plc.

Prof JD Rhodes is 55 and was appointed to the Board in 1996. He is Executive Chairman of Filtronic plc, Chairman of Isotek Ltd and Industrial Professor at Leeds University.

CJM Stutterheim is 53 and was appointed to the Board on 1 May 1998. He is also Executive Chairman of CMG plc.