The top five holdings in this biotech fund are: Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD, 10.30% of assets); Celgene (CELG, 7.58%); Incyte (INCY, 5.79%); Biogen (BIIB, 5.36%) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX, 4.59%).
Tekla Life Sciences Investors (HQL)
From Sound Advice
During his campaign, Trump promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and replace it with Health Savings Accounts. After the election, he said he would keep the popular portions of Obamacare, including the provision that prevents insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. He proposes forming high-risk pools and cutting back on costs through stricter immigration policies. He also wants to increase competition among insurance companies to sell across state lines.
Instead of the mandate that requires individuals to purchase insurance or pay a penalty, Trump wants to allow health insurance premiums to be tax-deductible, and allow individuals to shop for cost-effective treatments which allow or imported drugs.
How this will all shake out is anyone’s guess, so it is too early to look for new investments in this area. We are comfortable with our current recommendations in this sector based on their own individual merits.
Tekla Life Sciences Investors (formerly Hambrecht & Quist Life Sciences Fund; the symbol is still HQL) is in our portfolio because the most explosive profits in the entire healthcare industry can be found in biotech companies.
Over the last 10 years, biotechnology has become a major industry and the source of the world’s top breakthrough drugs. Biotech companies tend to be high risk and high reward investments which makes diversification essential. This fund is an excellent way to invest in this sector.
Gray Cardiff, Sound Advice, www.soundadvice-newsletter.com, 800-825-7007, December 1, 2016