The Nomura Global Biotech & Health Care Fund seeks long-term appreciation and stable income. It invests predominately in global equities that delivered strong outperformance in the past year.

The fund has a clearly defined thematic strategy and process to focus on biological engineering, pharmaceutical, health care, and biotech globally. The investment team identifies key secular growth trends and the best companies to gain exposure to these trends using a bottom-up, stock selection process involving rigorous fundamental research.

According to cited examples, the team successfully bought into Moderna, one of the innovative COVID-19 vaccine makers, after a 12-month process of due diligence, including interviews with investor relations and senior management and assessing vaccine development. This timely investment resulted in Moderna becoming a top-10 holding due to its performance and improved near-term performance in the fund.

It is good to note that there is an upper limit on each investor's investment limit, and each investor can invest up to 10% of the fund's AUM. However, the team does not yet have well-developed policies for the environmental and social impact of its investment decisions or a clear governance policy. In the past year, no engagement with investees or potential investees on significant issues was disclosed, which could pose a concern.

This fund has been reviewed by three industry veterans of the Benchmark judging committee.