Worldwide Heathcare Trust (WWH)

With a market capitalisation of almost £2bn, the WWH is the largest of several healthcare-focused investment companies listed in London. The company targets capital growth by investing across the healthcare spectrum, with just under a third of its portfolio in pharmaceutical companies, a fifth in biotechnology, a fifth in healthcare service providers and another fifth in healthcare equipment companies – as portfolio manager Trevor Polishuk puts it, the company is a ‘one-stop shop’ for those wishing to gain exposure to the secular growth trends behind the industry. In this interview, John Hughman speaks to Trevor about the rationale behind WWH’s allocation across the healthcare continuum, and why AstraZeneca is its largest holding; how the pandemic highlighted the innovation strengths of the industry; the long-term trends driving the sector’s growth, and the increasing role of technology in unlocking the sector’s innovative capabilities; and why healthcare offers the best of both worlds for defensively-minded and growth-hungry investors. The company is held in some of the portfolios.