Media Release of July 2, 2018
 

First healthcare fund with a focus on sustainability - another pioneering product from Bellevue
 

Sustainability is set to become a pivotal aspect of healthcare systems around the world. With the launch of the BB Adamant Sustainable Healthcare (Lux) Fund at the end of June 2018 (ISIN B-USD LU1819585537), Bellevue Asset Management has positioned itself at the vanguard of this trend. Investing in the global healthcare sector has been a pillar of Bellevue's expertise for 25 years. Today Bellevue employs more than 20 healthcare investment experts who manage around CHF 6 bn of client assets through various investment solutions. The portfolio of the new sustainable healthcare fund will consist of 40 stocks from four regions that have been carefully screened according to sustainability criteria.

Sustainable investing is becoming an increasingly important theme in the marketplace

Sustainable investment vehicles have clearly grown in relevance during recent years. For many investors, the return on investment is no longer the one and only criterion when investing in such vehicles; investment returns are now being balanced against their ethical, social and environmental credentials. In Germany alone, the market for sustainable investments grew by 17% to EUR 100 bn in 2017, and similar growth rates were recorded in Austria and Switzerland.

The BB Adamant Sustainable Healthcare Fund invests in healthcare companies that are sustainability leaders and have innovative business models. Cost structures and resource-light practices are critical elements in the fund's stock selection process. In the healthcare industry, examples of sustainability in practice are ecological procurement policies for drug makers, high safety standards for medical products and services, and a commitment to ethical clinical trials. From the patient's perspective, the spotlight is on the early diagnosis of potentially life-threatening diseases such as HIV or cancer, personalized medicine and targeted therapies, and on efficient procedures using surgical robots in minimally invasive procedures. Pricing policies are another sustainability criterion: Medicines should be affordable for all segments of the population whenever possible.

Investment strategy: Sustainability filter and semi-annual rebalancing

The basis for the fund's investments is the Adamant Healthcare Index that was successfully introduced in 2007. Starting with an investment universe of 600 healthcare companies, the 40 most attractive stocks in the four regions of Western Europe, North America, Japan/Oceania and Emerging Markets (10 from every region) are selected for inclusion in the index. It is reviewed and rebalanced every six months. This index, which forms the conceptual basis of the fund, has delivered an annual performance of 16% since launch, with volatility of 14% (in USD, as of May 31, 2018). Over the same period it has beaten the MSCI World Index by 292% and the MSCI World Healthcare Index by 231%.

The BB Adamant Sustainable Healthcare Fund will apply the same methodology as the index but with an additional sustainability screen, which reduces its investment universe to fewer than 300 companies. Cyrill Zimmermann, Head of Healthcare Funds & Mandates at Bellevue Asset Management and a member of its Executive Board: "A company must meet several criteria to qualify for inclusion in the fund's portfolio: They must rank among the most sustainable companies in their business (best-in-class approach) and comply with the principles of the UN Global Compact. They must not be associated with any serious ESG-relevant controversies nor pursue any controversial business activities in the healthcare sector. All sustainability criteria will be reviewed individually."

Cooperation with global sustainability specialist Sustainalytics

In their evaluation of a company's sustainability performance, the fund's Management Team, which also includes Zahide Donat and Samuel Stursberg, is supported by Sustainalytics, an internationally active ratings agency specializing in sustainability that continually analyzes and rates 11 000 stock and bond issuers worldwide from 42 industries with respect to their ESG performance. "After a very constructive discussion and a detailed evaluation process, we are pleased to support Bellevue as an independent partner in the implementation of its sustainable investment strategies for investors," says Tim Langer, manager client relations at Sustainalytics, about the new cooperation. "We supplement Bellevue's core expertise in the healthcare sector with the increasingly critical factor of sustainability. Furthermore, we provide local-level research access in Asia, a highly important market for Bellevue Asset Management."

The BB Adamant Sustainable Healthcare Fund complies with the strict quality regulations for sustainable financial products UZ 49 of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism and carries the Austrian Ecolabel.

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 billion.

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