The recent global economic slowdown has made times difficult for those looking to invest in equities or funds linked to equities to say the least. A brief review of the many funds available from a large number of OEICs and investment companies will reveal that few have delivered constant positive results over the past five years. However, if looking for a fund which has bucked the trend, it may be worth checking out Legal and General’s Global Health and Pharmaceutical Index Trust Fund.
L&G Global Health and Pharmaceutical Index Past Performance
While the past performance of a fund can never be guaranteed as a guide to future performance, a strong record is always a positive for the potential investor. Here the fund has consistently delivered positive results over the past five years with an overall 35.45% yield against the sector which gained 5.85% in the same period. The key performance differentiator of the fund it that when the sector suffered a 24.28% loss in 2008 and 9.45% loss in 2011, L&G’s fund managed to grow by 7.67% and 9.15% respectively.
Legal and General Global Health and Pharmaceutical Index Fund: Charges and Tax
One of the key features of the fund may be seen as the charges and cost structure, here the sole charge made to investors is the 1% annual management charge with no performance fee or initial charge to funds deposited. This compares well to some of the other funds in the L&G portfolio source as the UK property trust fund which has an initial charge of 5% and an annual management change of 1.25%.
In addition, the fund is also suitable for holding in an ISA if you are a UK resident which will ensure that your gains are protected from the tax man thus making the fund all the more attractive.
Global Health and Pharmaceutical Fund Holdings
One of the attractive features of the fund is that investors are exposed to a diverse portfolio of investments from both a geographic and corporate perspective. Major holdings in the fund at the time of writing from a corporate perspective included Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Novartis and GSK. From a geographic perspective, the two largest national exposures were to the US (56.91%) and Swiss (11.83%) markets correct at the time of writing. Overall, North America and developed Europe accounted for 89.67% of the investments of the fund at the start of 2012, meaning that funds are invested in countries which are relatively stable from a political perspective.
So if looking for a fund which is primarily invested in equities and has show consistently good performance over the past five years, it may be worth researching this fund further. A good starting place may be the official L&G Global Health and Pharmaceutical Index Fact Sheet.
Frank Smith - Frank Smith currently works as an full time industry analyst for a well known construction company in Lincolnshire. In his spare time, ...
