HEAD-TO-HEAD: Janus Henderson vs BNP Paribas Parvest

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Pictured: Luke Ng, FE Advisory Asia

The healthcare macro story is loud and clear: Healthcare has been growing in importance over the past couple decades as aging populations increase in the world’s key economies and scientific progress makes new treatments available.

In Asia, in particular, the ever-growing and increasingly wealthy middle class demands better medical services and more readily available treatments.

“Since the early 2000s, when the Human Genome Project was completed, the pace of innovation has been accelerating in terms of new treatments,” said Luke Ng, senior VP of research at FE Advisory Asia.

In the US, in particular, the speed of the FDA drug approval process has increased, providing a boost to the pharmaceutical industry, Ng noted.

Drug development carries risks, he added, as the rate of success for bringing new medicines to market through the clinical trial process is quite limited. This requires that investment professionals in the healthcare sector understand the science and the industry in order to make right investment decisions.

The two main sub-industries within healthcare are biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, according to Ng. The others include healthcare equipment, supplies, providers and services.

The sub-industries experienced different fortunes over the past few years, and differences in exposure to them is one of the main performance factors of healthcare funds.

FSA looks at two global healthcare funds: the Janus Global Life Sciences Fund and the Parvest Equity World Health Care Fund. Parvest is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Data: FE

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