By ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY, 17 September 2022:
Investors are enduring a difficult spell. High inflation is eating into returns, huge volatility is creating dramatic market swings and most portfolios have lost value since the start of the year.
Amid the turbulence, you might expect that healthcare companies would provide a safe port in the storm…
Medical devices and healthcare
These are the businesses that provide the day-to-day items and services needed to run a health system – anything from bandages to private health insurance…
Biotech… where the drugs are developed
These companies tend to focus on early-stage drug development and are much smaller than companies such as AstraZeneca and Glaxo…
There is a possibility of huge gains, alongside a real risk that you could lose most of your money…
The funds that could boost financial health
…For investors who want a stronger focus on healthcare, James Carthew, head of investment companies at fund expert QuotedData, likes Syncona. This is an investment trust that backs around ten different companies developing innovative drugs.
‘This is cutting edge technology – some of these businesses will fail,’ he says. ‘However, the ones that succeed will not only be a commercial success and a good investment, but will also provide much-needed life-changing treatments – maybe even cures.’
…or invest in sector’s buildings
Another way to invest in the future of healthcare is through the property on which it depends – anything from specialist laboratories to GP surgeries.
Richard Williams, property analyst at QuotedData is a fan of the new Life Science Real Estate Investment Trust, which has a £383million portfolio of biotech properties in London, Oxford and Cambridge.
‘The demand for new space from the ever-growing companies, coupled with the lack of supply is positive for the prospects for rental growth in the market,’ he says.
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