UPDATE: In August 2026, Sven Borho retired as lead manager with immediate effect, with Trevor Polischuk stepping up to replace him. Geoff Hsu of Biotech Growth has been appointed as deputy manager.
Worldwide Healthcare (WWH) was launched in April 1995. Initially focused on the pharmaceutical industry, it expanded its remit to the entire healthcare sector in 2010. OrbiMed (and its predecessor firm) has been the trust's investment adviser since its IPO with Sven Borho, one of OrbiMed's founders, and Trevor Polischuk taking over as lead managers in 2017 after the departure of Sam Isaly. Up to Se...
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UPDATE: In mid-2025, Syncona proposed a managed wind-down but a few months later shifted its plans to return £250m to shareholders instead, funded by sales proceeds from its more mature investments, and limiting new investments while this process takes place.
Syncona (SYNC) was launched in 2012 as BACIT (Battle Against Cancer Investment Trust). It initially invested in a range of investment funds but in 2016, it acquired a life sciences investment business set up by The Wellcome Trust and renamed itself Syncona. Wellcome Trust sold a quarter of its stake in 2019 but still owns 186m shares giv...
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UPDATE: In March 2026, Bellevue Healthcare was renamed CT Healthcare (CTHT) after its investment mandate was awarded to Columbia Threadneedle. It now uses a long/short strategy, while tender offers each quarter for up to 15% of its shares have replaced its annual redemption facility.
Bellevue Healthcare (BBH) was launched in late 2016. Paul Major of Bellevue has managed the trust since its inception with Brett Darke joining him in 2017 and they look for companies that can reform the delivery of healthcare services, both to improve patient outcomes and provide better value for money. BBH runs...
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RTW Biotech Opportunities (RTW) was launched in late 2019 to provide "a full life cycle approach to biotech investing". It primarily invests in early-stage companies, sometimes taking a seat on the board to help the company develop before either selling to a larger company or keeping a stake should the company go public. It is managed by RTW Investments, a New York-based company founded in 2009 that has around $6bn in assets under management. Rod Wong, RTW Investments' managing partner and the trust's CIO, owns around 30m RTW shares representing a stake of around 9%. Stephanie Sirota, another ...
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International Biotechnology (ticker: IBT) was launched in 1994 making it one of the oldest sector-specialised equity trusts. It was initially run by Rothschild Asset Management but after a turbulent few years, Schroders Ventures Life Sciences took over in 2000. Schroders Ventures Life Sciences eventually split from Schroders and set itself up as SV Health. IBT mostly invests in listed biotech stocks but has always had a significant percentage (currently around 10%) in unquoted companies. Although income from its portfolio is minimal, since 2016 it has adopted an enhanced dividend policy that p...
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Polar Capital Global Healthcare (ticker: PCGH) was launched in 2010 with a dual income and growth mandate. After a promising start, its returns then lagged its benchmark for a number of years and this resulted in a strategy change when the trust was reconstructed in 2017 as it approached the end of its initial fixed life. The portfolio was shifted more towards growth, the number of holdings was cut, a modest level of gearing was introduced using ZDPs, the dividend was halved, and the trust's life was extended to 2025. Performance since the reconstruction has marginally been ahead of the MSCI W...
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UPDATE: BIOG shareholders have endured a volatile ride over the last few years, with a -17% NAV return in the year to March 2023, a 27% gain in 2024, a -24% drop in 2025 then a bumper 73% return in 2026 off the Liberation Day lows. Performance from April to mid-September 2026 has also been strong, with a gain of around 25%. Lead manager Geoff Hsu recently took on an additional role as deputy manager for Worldwide Healthcare, the other UK trust managed by Orbimed.
Biotech Growth (ticker: BIOG) was launched in 1997. After a promising start, its performance tailed off and this led to the appoint...
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UPDATE: A revised version of this profile was published in February 2025.
Worldwide Healthcare Trust is one of the oldest specialist equity trusts. It has been managed by OrbiMed Partners (and its predecessor firm) since it joined the London market in 1995 and it boasts a formidable long-term track record. As of 30 June 2021, it had returned 15.9% annualised compared to 12.2% from the MSCI World Healthcare Index. However, 2021 has been a more difficult year with biotech and Chinese holdings dragging down its performance. Nevertheless, with its shares regularly trading at a premium, it has man...
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For premium subscribers we do regular interviews with fund managers and analysts about current market conditions and funds and markets (occasionally shares) that we invest in. The latest one is with Stephanie Sirota, a director of RTW Venture Fund (ticker: RTW) and Chief Business Officer of the New York based team that manages the trust. In our conversation we discuss what the trust does, what lies behind its impressive start as a listed vehicle and the future for life sciences businesses beyond the pandemic.
Stephanie Sirota Why the interest in this trust? RTW Venture Fund is a relative ne...
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UPDATE: A revised version of this profile was published in October 2024.
BB Healthcare Trust has a slightly different approach to healthcare investment, focusing on companies that are looking to improve the underlying process of keeping us all fit and well. It's a theme that will strike a chord will many of us. Healthcare professionals are undoubtedly heroes but the clunkiness and unconnected nature of healthcare systems worldwide is a constant source of misery and frustration, for both practitioners and patients. As with many things, technology might be the solution. Whether it's a Zoom call...
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