Net assets at Polar Capital Technology Trust, the UK-based investment trust, fell by 23% in the year to the end of April, despite it outperforming its benchmark by 10%.

The investment trust, one of the most prominent in the battered technology sector, fell in value from £290m (€411m) to £220m as tech shares continued to lose value for much of last year. Polar Capital believes that 2002 completed the deflation of the tech bubble formed in the late 1990s, and since April 30, 2003 the trust's net assets have risen by 11%.