LONDON (ShareCast) - Technology-focused trust Polar Capital said it remained confident in future returns from equities, despite the world facing a 'wall of worry'.

The firm posted a 5% fall in net asset value to 350.48p in the six months to the end of October. Total net assets fell 4.5% to £447.67m.

"The marked underperformance of small-cap stocks created a formidable investment headwind that we were unable to overcome, our own net asset value per share falling 5.0% over the half year," the firm said.

"In addition to small-cap underperformance, the trust was also negatively impacted by the poor returns generated by semiconductor companies that were among the hardest hit by deteriorating macroeconomic trends and an inventory drawdown exaggerated by less severe than anticipated supply disruptions post the Japanese earthquake."

But Polar stuck with its prediction that the technology sector was entering a new cycle, which would be driven by cloud computing, Internet applications and mobile computing.

"We remain hopeful that despite the considerable 'wall of worry' that exists today, equities should be able to generate solid absolute and superior relative returns (as compared to 'risk free' alternatives) for investors with a medium term investment horizon," the trust said.

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