One of the best ways to safeguard investments is by parking money in the healthcare sector. This is because demand for healthcare services does not change with market conditions. Many pharmaceutical companies also pay out regular dividends.
Companies that consistently offer dividends are financially stable and generate steady cash flows irrespective of market conditions. Mutual funds are the perfect choices for investors looking to enter this sector since they possess the advantages of wide diversification and analytical insight.
In such circumstances, investing in healthcare mutual funds seems prudent. However, choosing the right mutual funds for your portfolio can be quite tricky. To that end, let us find out which of the two funds discussed below is better.
T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund PRHSX
This is a non-diversified fund that invests more than 80% of its assets in common stocks of companies engaged in various activities in the field of healthcare, medicine or life sciences. The fund mostly invests in mid- and large-capitalization companies.
This Sector-Health product has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years. Specifically, the fund’s returns over the three and five-year benchmarks are 18.5% and 17%, respectively. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other #1 and #2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.
Meanwhile, as of the last filing, Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) and Unitedhealth Group Inc were the top holdings for T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund.
This product, with a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy), was incepted in December 1995 and is managed by T. Rowe Price. PRHSX requires a minimal initial investment of $2,500.
Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund Class D JNGLX
This fund aims for long-term capital growth. It invests the majority of its assets in securities of companies that the fund managers believe have a life science orientation. The fund also invests a minimum of 25% of its total assets in securities of companies from the "life sciences" sector.
This Sector-Health product has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years. Specifically, the fund’s returns are 16.5% over the three-year and 14.7% of the five-year period. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other #1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.
Meanwhile, as of the last filing, Unitedhealth Group Inc and Astrazeneca Plc (LON:AZN) were the top holdings for Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund Class D.
This product with a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) was incepted in December 1998 and is managed by Janus Fund. JNGLX requires a minimal initial investment of $2,500.
To Conclude
While both PRHSX and JNGLX are buy-rated funds, upon having a closer look, we find that the former is a clear winner. PRHSX has a history of providing higher returns compared to JNGLX. Further, JNGLX has a 3-year beta of 0.80 compared to PRHSX’s 0.84. Moreover, JNGLX has a 3-year alpha of 1.88 compared to PRHSX’s 3.27.
Notably, a higher alpha indicates that managers of the particular fund, through careful stock selection, have been able to extract higher returns than the market. Therefore, for better returns one must opt for PRHSX.
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