Bangkok--28 May--BBL Asset Management
BBL Asset Management Co Ltd (Bualuang Fund) is confident that its Bualuang Global Health Care Fund (BCARE) is an especially attractive mutual fund for investors looking for long-term investment due to the continuing growth trend of the global healthcare industry.
Wasin Wattanaworakijkul Managing Director and Head of Business Distribution of BBL Asset Management Co Ltd (Bualuang Fund), said BCARE has garnered a proven track record since its establishment 12 years ago as the first mutual fund in the country that focuses on investing in the healthcare industry.
Over the past 10 years and as of April 30, 2019, Wasin said, BCARE managed to muster a return of 14.01%, outpacing the 12.53% return of the MSCI World Health Care Index Net, which is the benchmark of the global healthcare funds.
The global healthcare industry has a strong prospect for growth as more and more people are paying attention to their health and their longevity.
Bualuang Fund considers BCARE as one of the attractive tools for investment for long-term growth, given the fact that many countries such as Western Europe, Japan, Singapore or Thailand are moving into the ageing society.
"New technologies and fresh breakthroughs in healthcare have helped people to live longer and enjoy a better lifestyle. We are quite confident of this growth trend," Wasin said.
Bualuang Fund set up BCARE on August 29, 2007 to allow investors to diversify their portfolio and broaden their investment opportunities. Bualuang Global Health Care Fund RMF (BCARERMF), designed for tax planning purposes, came along afterwards.
BCARE solely invests in the Wellington Global Health Care Equity Fund for an average in the accounting year not less than 80% of net asset value of the Fund. This fund, managed by Wellington Management Company LLP, pursues a policy of investing in healthcare-related companies worldwide.
According to the OECD, whose members consist of 36 developed countries, healthcare spending to GDP between 2000 to 2017 increased by 25%, turning the healthcare industry into one of the global mega-trends.
In April of this year, healthcare stocks came under pressure from medicare-for-all proposal of the Democrat Party in the United States. But chances of its passage in the Congress remain uncertain due to higher cost and political resistance. Still, the stock prices of healthcare-related companies are likely to fluctuate over the next 12 to 24 months up until the US presidential election in 2020.
Given the global mega-trend of the healthcare industry, investors will stand to benefit from the dollar cost averaging strategy by buying into BCARE because in the long term the healthcare industry will continue to grow from new innovations, progress in medical science, demand for pharmaceutical products and the coming of the aging society in many countries worldwide.
Wasin said investing in foreign investment funds may carry risks, including exchange rate risk, but the healthcare industry is a business of the future. As for BCARE, its investment is diversified into more than 100 companies allowing investors to invest through all the market cycles, he added.