Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust underperforms against benchmark
Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust PLC on Thursday said it underperformed against its benchmark in the first half of its current financial year, amid wider global economic weakness.
The London-based investor in healthcare stocks said its net asset value total return for the six months that ended March 31 was negative 10.27%, against a negative 3.29% return on its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Healthcare Index.
Its NAV per share at March 31 was 353.38 pence, down 11% from 395.05p at September 30, 2024.
‘Key drivers of the under-performance were too much capital allocated to small and mid-capitalisation stocks coupled with sub-par stock selection in biotechnology, healthcare facilities and pharmaceuticals,’ said the firm.
Polar Capital recorded a pretax loss of £48.9 million for the six-month period, swung from a £70.1 million profit the year before.
‘It was a challenging start to the financial year, in absolute and relative terms, with global equity markets appearing to reflect the view that the global economy is showing signs of weakness against a backdrop of slower growth and lingering inflation,’ Polar Capital said.
Looking ahead, the firm said it ‘remains optimistic about the outlook for the healthcare sector. It is a diverse sector, spread across broad geographies with strong demand-led characteristics. Companies continue to invest and innovate, which will hopefully generate sustainable, long-term growth.’
‘The managers are well placed to identify those companies with strong fundamentals which we believe should deliver attractive returns for our shareholders,’ Polar Capital added.
Shares in Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust were down 1.4% at 316.60 pence each in London. The stock is down 14% over the past year.
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