Polar Capital Technology Share Discussion Threads

[pj84] 25/2/2024 01:17

Tyler Perry halts £630m film studio build over AI fears

[pj84] 23/2/2024 13:55

The NAV has jumped by £1.34 since yesterday with the 8.4% holding in Nvidia I suspect being a major contributor. Surprised with the fairly muted response so far, with the price up 15p and the discount widening to 11%.

[steeplejack] 16/2/2024 14:19

Yes,its odd given that SMT for example,traded at a premium to assets back in late 2021.Both PCT and ATT are sitting on a discount of around 12%.They don’t have a private company portfolio or exposure to China.No wonder the trust is happy to continue share buybacks.

[chrissnox] 15/2/2024 13:13

That's the definition of a wide discount. The question is why is the discount so relatively wide when the stock price is at a high, NASDAQ is at a high, tech enthusiasm is meant to be at a high with the AI/Mag 7 trend etc. If the stock trades at these discount levels in these conditions, what events are needed for a tighter discount ?

[weatherman] 15/2/2024 12:20

Maybe struggling to catch up with the NAV rise.

[chrissnox] 15/2/2024 11:59

PCT's price is at all time highs. Nasdaq is back to Nov 21 highs. AI is in vogue & seen as the driver of the future. The largest US stocks have been christened the magnificent 7. But PCT still trades at a c.11-12% discount. Yes it has come in a couple of points in the last few months but why so wide when apparently there is so much enthusiasm for tech stocks. But why isn't it trading within a 0-5% discount range ? Is it as simple as bond yields being too high and the discount will only tighten when bond yields compress ? Is the tech sector rally perceived as at risk and hence it doesn't justify a tighter discount ? What are the thoughts on the catalyst for PCT to trade at a tighter discount ?

[hawkwell_lions3] 05/2/2024 21:07

Bought these shares in 1991 when they were t r technology

[thamestrader] 05/2/2024 10:34

my best performing trust ytd 2024. Up nearly 8%

Correction: second best. IGC up 10%

[pj84] 10/1/2024 00:25

New material found by AI could reduce lithium use in batteries

Samples of the new solid electrolyte discovered by Microsoft AI and HPC tools

By Shiona McCallum Technology reporter

A brand new substance, which could reduce lithium use in batteries, has been discovered using artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputing.

The findings were made by Microsoft and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), which is part of the US Department of Energy.

Scientists say the material could potentially reduce lithium use by up to 70%.

Since its discovery the new material has been used to power a lightbulb.

Microsoft researchers used AI and supercomputers to narrow down 32 million potential inorganic materials to 18 promising candidates in less than a week - a screening process that could have taken more than two decades to carry out using traditional lab research methods.

The process from inception to the development of a working battery prototype took less than nine months.

The two organisations achieved this by using advanced AI and high-performance computing which combines large numbers of computers to solve complex scientific and mathematical tasks.

Executive vice president of Microsoft, Jason Zander, told the BBC one of the tech giant's missions was to "compress 250 years of scientific discovery into the next 25".

"And we think technology like this will help us do that. This is the way that this type of science I think is going to get done in the future," he said.

The problem with lithium
Lithium is often referred to as "white gold" because of its market value and silvery colour. It is one of the key components in rechargeable batteries (lithium-ion batteries) that power everything from electric vehicles (EVs) to smartphones.

As the need for the metal ramps up and the demand for EVs rises, the world could face a shortage of the material as soon as 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.

It is also expected that demand for lithium-ion batteries will increase up to tenfold by 2030, according to the US Department for Energy, so manufacturers are constantly building battery plants to keep up.

Lithium mining can be controversial as it can take several years to develop and has a considerable impact on the environment. Extracting the metal requires large amounts of water and energy, and the process can leave huge scars in the landscape, as well as toxic waste.

Dr Nuria Tapia-Ruiz, who leads a team of battery researchers at the chemistry department at Imperial College London, said any material with reduced amounts of lithium and good energy storage capabilities are "the holy grail" in the lithium-ion battery industry.

"AI and supercomputing will become crucial tools for battery researchers in the upcoming years to help predict new high-performing materials," she said.

But Dr Edward Brightman, lecturer in chemical engineering at the University of Strathclyde, said the tech would need to be "treated with a bit of caution".

"It could throw up spurious results, or results that look good at first, and then turn out to either be a material that is known or that can't be synthesised in the lab," he said.

This AI-derived material, which at the moment is simply called N2116, is a solid-state electrolyte that has been tested by scientists who took it from a raw material to a working prototype.

It has the potential to be a sustainable energy storage solution because solid-state batteries are safer than traditional liquid or gel-like lithium.

In the near future, faster charging solid-state lithium batteries promise to be even more energy-dense, with thousands of charge cycles.

How is this AI different?
The way in which this technology works is by using a new type of AI that Microsoft has created, trained on molecular data that can actually figure out chemistry.

"This AI is all based on scientific materials, database and properties," explained Mr Zander.

"The data is very trustworthy for using it for scientific discovery."

After the software narrowed down the 18 candidates, battery experts at PNNL then looked at them and picked the final substance to work on in the lab.

Karl Mueller from PNNL said the AI insights from Microsoft pointed them "to potentially fruitful territory so much faster" than under normal working conditions.

"[We could] modify, test and tune the chemical composition of this new material and quickly evaluate its technical viability for a working battery, showing the promise of advanced AI to accelerate the innovation cycle," he said.

[pj84] 09/1/2024 21:36

"Language learning app Duolingo has cut 10pc of its translators as it replaces them with artificial intelligence (AI).

The app, which has over 500 million registered users, said it had “offboarded” contractors who previously wrote and checked translations for its app. Part of that work will now be performed by AI.

The job cuts, which impact the company’s contractors, provide one of the clearest indications that a new wave of AI tools threatens to replace jobs once traditionally done by human workers. Bloomberg first reported the cutbacks.

A Duolingo spokesman said: “We just no longer need as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing. Part of that could be attributed to AI.”"

[pj84] 27/12/2023 13:12

From the recent Telegraph article: -

"An artificially intelligent robot has beaten humans at a Labyrinth marble game, the first time a machine has shown it can master both physical dexterity and learning.

The game, which involves manipulating a marble around a series of obstacles while stopping the ball tumbling into multiple holes, requires skill, patience and a delicate touch.

Currently, Sweden’s Lars Goran Danielsson, who has played the game for 35 years, holds the record for completing the maze in 15.41 seconds.

But a robot called CyberRunner, built by Swiss researchers at ETH Zurich, clocked a time of 14.48 seconds after just six hours of practice."

[pj84] 21/12/2023 17:28

A multi-decade trend: What does 2024 and beyond hold for AI?

As the debate around artificial intelligence and its investment opportunities gathers pace, some of the world’s top asset managers share their outlooks.

(It's a bit long so haven't copied the full article but just posting the link below)

[pj84] 19/12/2023 16:26

Rambus/Polar Capital Technology

Nasdaq-listed Rambus (market cap $6.8bn) is a typical PCT holding that typifies the great success manager Ben Rogoff has driven over the years. It is niche, highly interesting and abounds with opportunity.

Founded in 1990, Rambus has evolved from a simple semiconductor IP licensing company into a more diverse technology solutions provider, most interestingly focused on interface solutions.

Without getting too technical, semiconductors and processors are becoming increasingly complex and prevalent within computing systems and these different elements need to communicate effectively, efficiently and securely which is where interface solutions are utilised. Rambus has a long history of developing advanced interface technologies that facilitate data transfer and communication between various semiconductor components and systems.

Rambus has expanded into the data centre, artificial intelligence and automotive sectors, where there is strong demand for advanced semiconductor technologies requiring advanced interface and buffer solutions.

As the demand for data processing and storage continues to soar, Rambus’s data centre solutions are well-positioned to capitalise on this trend. This technology offers higher bandwidth, energy efficiency, reliability and better security, making it a compelling choice for data centre operators striving for optimal performance.

In an era marked by heightened concerns about cybersecurity, Rambus has prioritised security solutions. The company offers a range of hardware and software security products, including secure provisioning and authentication technologies, which are critical for safeguarding data and devices in an increasingly interconnected world and particularly in the internet-of-things space.

The company sees strong growth opportunities from the transition to DDR 5 memory chips (faster, less power consumptive and higher bandwidth than their predecessors DDR 4) and the growing use of high bandwidth memory in AI-specialised servers.

A combination of high margins, returning a decent proportion of its free cashflow to shareholders via share buybacks and forecasted EPS growth of around 15% for the next few years makes Rambus’s EV/Ebitda (enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) ratio multiple of around 20 for 2024 look reasonable.

[pj84] 18/12/2023 10:42

Polar Capital Tech ploughs 75% of portfolio into ‘game-changing’ AI

‘AI continues to dominate technology performance at both headline and stock level,’ wrote Rogoff (pictured below) and Unwin. ‘While it is still early days, we are seeing encouraging signs for the adoption of AI and the impact of the AI transformation on companies up and down the supply chain.’

[suetballs] 16/12/2023 10:36

I'm very optimistic about tech next year and in the future.
Topped up my relatively small holding a few days ago and will be buying more.
Suet

[arja] 15/12/2023 12:16

just checked and about 12% with little change to NAV expected when it is announced today .

[arja] 15/12/2023 12:13

fidra ,
actually the discount had narrowed when I checked recently and is only about 13% I think. This is a small discount and dangerous if nasdaq suddenly tanks or starts to fall - unlikely at present looking at nasdaq chart .

[thamestrader] 13/12/2023 09:20

As a newbie here (only 200 shares as a toe-in), I found it a fairly comfortable read. PCT is underweight in the magnificent seven (or whatever they're called nowadays), so was held back by relative underperformance in its smaller growth companies.

Here it is for those who haven't seen it:

[fidra] 13/12/2023 08:51

Anyone got a view on the latest update.

I have about 1000 shares ,quite pleased with capital appreciation but still quite a large discount to NAV.

[steeplejack] 23/8/2023 20:55

Nvidia is PCTs third largest holding.Could help perception as the price continues to rocket on Nvidia earnings beat tonight.

[poots] 27/7/2023 18:36

It would help if it paid a dividend

[steeplejack] 27/7/2023 12:15

When the US technology sector is flying (Meta and Goggle last couple of days)the discount looks unjustified.Maybe a 5-10% discount for the wary but not double figures.Yet,this is the UK and i begin to wonder whether being listed on UK exchanges has much appeal compared with the US.

[umitw] 30/6/2023 10:05

Apple is flying, PCT is still on a large discount!

[suetballs] 16/6/2023 11:11

Having held before bought back in today.
Suet