Media Release of May 23, 2018
Bellevue launches dedicated digital health fund
A raft of new technologies is changing the way healthcare systems function and creating new growth opportunities in the process. Bellevue Asset Management first began to invest in this groundbreaking market in April 2016 via its BB HealthTech open-end certificate. The successful strategy behind this proprietary investment vehicle managed by portfolio managers Stefan Blum and Marcel Fritsch is now being replicated in a Luxemburg-based investment fund - the BB Adamant Digital Health (Lux) Fund (ISIN B-CHF LU1811047833).
The digital revolution has touched people's lives in many ways. Digitalization has also been embraced by the healthcare system. New technologies that fall under the "Digital Health" label are being rolled out across the sector and the benefits are plain to see. Digitalization is creating value in the form of more effective treatment options or direly needed efficiency gains and cost savings, for example. Thanks to disruptive technologies such as sensors, connectivity and cloud computing, many new or improved products and services are now being introduced to the marketplace with positive effects on treatment outcomes and on the cost side. Examples of Digital Health breakthroughs are telemedicine, robotic surgical systems and continuous glucose monitoring devices, to name just a few.
Not your typical tech fund
Digital health is a business that is subject to stricter regulations than the typical tech industry: Safety and clinical benefit must be verified in rigorous, painstaking clinical trials. Such requirements pose entry barriers to potential new rivals, make the related technology risk more predictable and give the fund a distinctive profile. The BB Adamant Digital Health (Lux) Fund (ISIN B-CHF LU1811047833) offers investors access to a global portfolio of rapidly growing technology stocks that are benefiting from the healthcare sector's attractive fundamentals, which include an aging population and the spread of lifestyle-related diseases. The value of the stocks in the fund's portfolio in the near to mid-term future will be shaped by top-line growth, the achievement of well-defined milestones and M&A activity.
Successful strategy will be maintained
Portfolio managers Stefan Blum and Marcel Fritsch will use the same investment strategy that has already proven so successful with the BB HealthTech certificate. This open-end certificate was issued in April 2016 and has since achieved an average annual return of about 30% on volatility of about 15%. "Venture capitalists have invested about USD 24 bn in 1 700 private digital health firms during the past 7 years, so we expect many attractive companies to go public in the coming years. Which is another argument to invest in the sector," remarks portfolio manager Stefan Blum. Attention will continue to focus on fast-growing small and mid-cap companies in North America, Europe and Asia. "In our fundamental bottom-up process, we will select 30 to 50 of the most attractive stocks out of a universe of 220 to 250 companies," Marcel Fritsch explains. "The key criteria for inclusion in the fund are sales growth and gross profit margins, a solid balance sheet and the quality of company management."
25 years of healthcare expertise
With the launch of this new investment fund, Bellevue continues to build its core competency as a healthcare sector investor. Bellevue already ranks among the largest independent healthcare investors in Europe. Twenty highly qualified healthcare investment experts manage a total of CHF 5.4 bn via various investment solutions.
For further information please contact:
Bellevue Asset Management AG, Seestrasse 16 / P.O. Box, CH-8700 Küsnacht/Zurich
Tanja Chicherio, Tel. +41 44 267 67 09, tch@bellevue.ch
www.bellevue.ch
Bellevue Asset Management
Bellevue Asset Management and its sister company StarCapital based in Oberursel outside Frankfurt, Germany are part of Bellevue Group, an independent, Swiss financial group with a registered office in Zurich and a listing on the Swiss Exchange SIX. Bellevue was established in 1993 and has since become a leading investment boutique with a focus on healthcare, regional strategies, multi-asset solutions and global equity and bond funds. Assets under management amount to CHF 9.4 bn
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