Investment Professionals

Webinar Recording: Investing in the essential - healthcare & biotechnology

Recorded on the 2nd July 2020. 
In this webinar, we discussed:
What biotechnology is and how it is different from broad healthcare
Why investors should look outside Australia to the US
How biotechnology is being used to fight COVID-19
What the future of biotechnology and healthcare look like
Volatility and how to allocate to biotechnology in your portfolio
To watch the webinar recording, please click here. 

Thematic ETFs Q1 Performance Examined

Thematic ETFs had a rough first quarter, falling as much, or more than global share market gauges like the MSCI World Index. The slow start follows two strong years in 2020 and 2021, where several thematics provided strong outperformance. Biotech in many ways exemplifies this reversal of fortunes. After being the best performing sector in 2020, thanks to coronavirus vaccine development, the sector fell 40% in the 12 months to Q1. While the causes of underperformance vary between funds, common roots include the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which threatens supply chains. And the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance, which has put a dampener on growth companies. Below we look at each thematic in more detail. ETFS Hydrogen ETF (HGEN) HGEN fell 11.5% in Q1, thanks to rising interest rates and Senator Manchin vetoing US subsidies for clean hydrogen. HGEN is especially sensitive to higher discount rates as the majority (16 out of 30) of the companies it holds are loss-making. While HGEN’s performance is negative this year, in March, HGEN rallied 12.8% on a more dovish Fed). ...