- Healthcare and biotech funds have registered some big gains since late last year
- What explains the winners, and what options work for specific investors?
The biotech sector can be racy at the best of times and especially vulnerable to shifting investor whims. The average investment trust in the AIC’s Biotechnology and Healthcare sector made a 21 per cent share price total return in 2020 as Covid‑19 threw the industry into the spotlight, and a subsequent slump is now fading from memory amid signs that better times lie ahead again.
The average fund lost 10 per cent in 2022 as higher interest rates hoved into view. Share price discounts to net asset value (NAV) have also persisted, with the sector average standing at 14.5 per cent.