According to fund manager Philip Ripman of Storebrand Asset Management, there is an opportunity for investors in pharmaceuticals that has been “underrepresented for a very long time”. It’s about women’s healthcare, according to Ripman, who manages the $1 billion Storebrand Global Solutions fund. “The aspect that we have really focused on within the portfolio is women’s health care. It’s one of those areas that has long been both underexplored and underrepresented,” he told Pro Talks last week. According to a Mckinsey report last year, women’s health issues beyond breast cancer accounted for just 1% of pharmaceutical research funding in 2020. For medical technology funding, only 2% focused on non-cancer women’s health problems. Many studies have been done “from a man’s perspective,” Ripman said, adding that this is now changing. “I think a lot of the new business models that are emerging in that sense are interesting,” he said. “What we want to see is a stronger focus on the women’s health sector within the portfolio.” The area of femtech – software and technology products related to women’s health – is undoubtedly growing. In 2021, venture capital investments in femtech surpassed $2 billion for the first time, according to Pitchbook, which expects to grow to $3 billion by 2030. Stocks to consider In Ripman’s sustainability-focused fund, there are a number of stocks that fit this theme. These include Hologic, a US-based medical technology company specializing in women’s health, American medical technology company Becton Dickinson, and Europe-based pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter, which specializes in women’s health care. According to FactSet data, analysts see Hologic as having an average upside potential of 14%, even though only 35% of respondents have a buy rating for the stock. Becton Dickinson also received about 14% upside potential from analysts, and 65% of them gave the company a buy rating. The Storebrand Global Solutions fund invests in four themes: Smart Cities, Circular Economy, Equal Opportunity and Renewable Energy. The fund’s principle is to avoid companies that derive more than 5% of their revenues from fossil fuels, tobacco, alcohol, war and other vice-related activities. Over the long term, the strategy appears to have paid off: it ranks first for 10-year annualized returns (15%) on Morningstar’s list of global mega-cap equity funds. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
