KBank Private Banking (KPB) holds the view that opportunity is abounding for investment in the healthcare industry with good performance despite soaring inflation. In a seminar titled "Healthcare: As Important as Ever",KPB recommends K-GHEALTH - an equity fund that focuses on long-term investment in thriving healthcare innovations in order to cash in on the prevailing health-conscious trend worldwide. Dr. Manop Pithukpakorn, Professor of Medicine and Head of Medical Genetics Division, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, one of the keynote speakers in this seminar, claimed that COVID-19 has raised awareness of the importance of healthcare technology which can help improve people's health and wellness, noting that eight innovations will emerge as future trends. Also present in the event was an investment specialist from JP Morgan Asset Management International Equity Group, who viewed that healthcare stocks would still offer positive returns to investors despite rising inflation, though 'selective' stocks.
Ms. Siriporn Suwannakarn, Senior Managing Director - Financial Advisory Head, Private Banking Group, KASIKORNBANK (KBank), noted that during the past 2-3 years when the world was crippled by COVID-19, we have learned that good health is central to our happiness. Proven healthcare innovations and advanced medicine can extend our lifespan thanks to improved quality of life. KBank Private Banking sees brighter opportunity in investment in healthcare, and thus recommends K-GHEALTH as a long-term investment vehicle, especially amid a volatile market environment.
K-GHEALTH focuses on medical and healthcare stocks in four key themes as follows:
Dr. Manop Pithukpakorn, Professor of Medicine and Head of Medical Genetics Division, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, observed that the COVID-19 pandemic had shown that advanced medical technologies and healthcare were a great help in our battle with the disease, from the stage of diagnosis, and in our attempts in treatment and prevention, as well as enhancing efficiency throughout the entire supply chain of our healthcare system. The COVID-19 outbreak has also advanced our usage of medical technologies, the importance of which will be acknowledged by the public from now on. As pointed out by Dr. Manop, eight medical innovations are expected to be the trends of our future, namely:
Mr. Thomas Bradley-Flannagan, Investment Specialist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management International Equity Group, said that 2022 will be a volatile year, given soaring inflation and interest rates, plus concerns about supply chain bottlenecks that are bound to pressure regional stock markets and numerous industries, including healthcare. Looking back as at the rising inflation rates over the years, it was found that the energy sector recorded the best performance, followed by healthcare sector. This means that the healthcare sector can still offer favorable returns for investors despite runaway inflation. Nevertheless, not all categories in the healthcare sector have enjoyed sound operating results. Given this, we have altered our investment strategies by selecting only appropriate categories based on the MSCI World Healthcare Index, as follows.
- Overweight investment in the following stocks:
- Biotech stocks that have declined in value, thus making them more attractive. Emphasis should be placed on companies with outstanding, high-quality innovations, plus long-term growth prospects.
- Healthcare service stocks. Emphasis should be placed on health insurance rather than hospitals.
- Underweight or maintain investment in the following stocks:
- Pharma stocks: Holding of such stocks has not been scaled down, but maintained at the largest proportion of the portfolio because such stocks are stable and do not move with economic conditions.
- Medical tech stocks: Holding of such stocks has been reduced. Some large cap stocks have relatively high value.
Ms. Siriporn added that if we look deeply into various categories of the healthcare sector, many categories are still robust, and the value of their stocks is not too high. These include large-cap pharmaceutical companies, as well as medium- to small-cap biotech firms that are expected to benefit from mergers and acquisitions. The healthcare sector still has a promising outlook as innovations will steadily be introduced. Therefore, investment in this sector remains interesting, thanks to favorable long-term returns.
The "Healthcare: As Important As ever" seminar can be viewed via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbNYrvq30Rg.