Strong performance for Fondita Healthcare!

In times of uncertainty defensive sectors usually perform better. Healthcare is one of the most defensive sectors on the market, but the combination of defensiveness and strong innovation and healthy fundamentals have together supported the sector to becoming one of the performance wise strongest year to date.

The excitement around new weight-loss drugs has been a significant driver. The breakthrough in 2023 has continued to be a groundbreaking theme in healthcare and patient demand continues to surpass supply. The potential continues to be huge as only a small portion of eligible patients are being treated today. Supply and fill-finish facilities is being ramped-up continuously to meet the demand.

Technological advances are also shaping both the speed and quality of innovations, treatments, and care. Some examples are AI and machine learning in diagnostics, robotics in surgery and for example implantable devices to support movement. All interesting themes which Fondita Healthcare has exposure to via different holdings.

Of the global healthcare sector, the Pharma subsector is up by some 21 % year to date. For Fondita Healthcare the biggest return contribution in pharma came from Eli Lillly, ALK-Abello, Novo Nordisk and Astra Zeneca. The next best sector performance wise has been the Biotechnology sector with a return of 14 %. Fondita Healthcare is selective in this sector due to the binary nature of the success in clinical outcomes but strong contribution to the performance has been supported by holdings in  Camurus and Argenx. Lately even by Faron Pharmaceuticals.

Fondita Healthcare has since its inception overweighted the Life Science Tools & Services and the Healthcare Equipment subsectors. In the Life Science space especially positions in the CDMO’s Lonza, Siegfried and Rovi have contributed positively to returns, and Boston Scientific has been the backbone of the Healthcare Equipment subsectors contribution.

Since the manager change in June 2022, when Janna Haahtela started as lead-manager of the fund, Fondita Healthcare has been able to beat the performance of the global healthcare market. The funds’ return of +17% in 2024 positions the fund in the top quartile of global healthcare funds.