Worldwide Technology Fund

The TMT sector is now globally very large, and technology is mission critical for businesses and governments alike. Penetration of mobile telephones and networked personal computers has risen dramatically. Does the sector still have attractions?

1) The sector generally has little debt, and many substantial companies have significant cash balances. This proved a drag on the sector in relative terms, when there was a credit boom, but has provided resilience in the downturn, and offers the potential for earnings enhancing acquisitions, at prices reasonable for the sellers, while cash yields so little. Furthermore, products and services are not generally acquired with debt as in sectors such as property and cars.

2) There is a significant amount of non discretionary recurring expenditure – maintenance, data centres, security such as unified threat management, rental and hosted software models, domain names, etc. Companies with recurring models may not offer the highest growth rates, but should command a premium for certainty.

We continue to be excited about our sector.

Cyber Security February 12 2021

Semiconductors December 4 2020

Thoughts on Tech Regulation October 09 2020  

 Interim Investment Manager’s Report, July 28 2020

Buybacks, Another Factor Supporting Technology Stocks, July 6 2020

What we see across the Technology Value Chain, April 27 2020

Market Commentary, March 31 2020

Online Dealing:

Class B shares are available the following platforms:

Hargreaves Lansdown: www.hl.co.uk

Transact: www.transact-online.co.uk

AJ Bell: www.youinvest.co.uk

Other Dealing:

The minimum initial investment in Herald Worldwide Technology Fund is £1,000 for Class B shares with no minimum subsequent investment and for Class A shares the minimum initial investment is £10,000 and £5,000 for subsequent investments. Class A shares are currently closed to new investors. Before applying to make an investment in HWTF you must download and read the latest prospectus and the latest factsheet for the fund and the relevant Key Investor Information Document (KIID) for the class of shares of in which you wish to invest. If after reading these documents you are in any doubt as to the suitability of HWTF as an investment you should consult an independent financial adviser. Remember that the value of an investment in HWTF can fall as well as rise, and that you may get back less than you invested when you redeem your shares.

Click on the following links to download a copy of the documents you need:

HWTF Prospectus 2020

HWTF Supplementary Prospectus January 2021

KIID Class A Shares

KIID Class B Shares

Entity Account Opening & Application Form

Individual Account Opening & Application Form

Account Holder Dealing Form

Data Protection Notice

The Herald Worldwide Technology Fund is an open-ended investment company (OEIC). The Fund is valued on each business day by reference to the latest available prices for the investments it holds quoted on the immediately preceding business day. Applications for share purchases/sales should be submitted to the administrator, Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Ireland ) Limited, by 17:00 (Irish time) on   the business day preceding the Dealing Day.

HWTF’s activities are all outsourced and therefore it does not have any employees. The fund also has a very limited direct impact on the environment as it has no greenhouse gas emissions. Notwithstanding that the fund has no direct social or community impact, the board encourages the manager to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when selecting and retaining investments. The fund  has given discretionary voting powers to the investment manager, Herald Investment Management Limited. The manager votes against resolutions it considers may damage shareholders’ rights or economic interests.

The fund believes that it is in the shareholders’ interests to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when selecting and retaining investments and has asked the manager to take these issues into account as long as the investment objectives are not compromised. The manager does not exclude companies from its investment universe purely on the grounds of ESG issues but, where possible, adopts a positive engagement approach whereby matters are discussed with management with the aim of improving the relevant policies and management systems and enabling the manager to consider how ESG factors could impact long term investment returns. The manager’s statement of compliance with the UK Stewardship Code can be found under the Responsible Investing page of Herald Investment Management Limited’s web site. The manager’s policy has also been reviewed and endorsed by HWTF’s board.

HWTF is subject to the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011 (“the UCITS Regulations”). As such the fund must comply with any relevant EU ESG Regulation.

Fergus Sheridan (Chairman) (Irish)

Fergus is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK). Following a 20 year corporate career in risk management he departed Irish Life Assurance as Treasurer, in 1994, to establish Strategic Risk Management Ltd as a consultancy. He has also been an independent non-executive director since 1995 and is now fully engaged in that capacity. He holds post graduate qualifications in corporate governance (University College Dublin) and Company Direction (Institute of Directors); is a founding director of the Corporate Governance Association of Ireland; and is currently Chairman of the Irish Fund Directors Association.

Dominic Del Mar (British)

Dominic worked for Peel Hunt from 1997 – 2009 performing a number of roles including Equity Research, trading, Specialist Sales and General UK Mid and Small Cap sales. In 2009 he joined Singer Capital Markets as a Partner, and following it’s merger with N+1 Brewin, he became Head of Sales and Trading for the combined entity. In 2018 he founded a business aiding and assisting UK listed companies with their Investor Relations and positioning.

Charles Ekins (British)

Charles is the founder and Chief Executive of Ekins Guinness LLP. Previously he was Chief Investment Officer at Valu-Trac Investment Management, prior to which he spent 19 years at Morgan Grenfell (Deutsche) Asset Management where he was a portfolio manager, member of the Investment Policy Committee and client director. He read Maths with Computing Science at Bristol University and has an MBA from the City University Business School. Mr Ekins is a shareholder in the parent company of the Investment Manager.

Paul Halley (Irish)

Paul is a business graduate of Trinity College Dublin and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland. He acts as an independent non-executive director with board positions on a portfolio of authorised investment funds and non-financial service related entities. He has held senior management positions in the fields of compliance, fund services and trustee/depository services with a range of blue chip financial service providers in Ireland. Previous to this, he worked with Bank of Ireland Asset Management, Dolmen Stockbrokers, BNY Mellon and IBRC Assurance Company.

REGISTERED OFFICE

Fourth Floor
76 Baggot Street Lower
Dublin 2
Ireland

The Class A shares and the Class B shares of Herald Worldwide Technology Fund PLC, which have both been accepted as ‘reporting funds’ under the UK’s offshore funds tax regime with effect from 1st January 2011, are required to make a report annually to UK investors. These reports are published below for the convenience of UK investors, who should consult their accountant or other tax adviser if they are in any doubt as to what action they should take in respect of them.

2019 Report to UK Investors
2018 Report to UK Investors
2017 Report to UK Investors
2016 Report to UK Investors
2015 Report to UK Investors
2014 Report to UK Investors
2013 Report to UK Investors
2012 Report to UK Investors
2011 Report to UK Investors