It's no secret that investors in the Pharma Sector Mutual Fund schemes have had a raw deal in the past three years. Depending upon their choice of fund, they've likely earned a measly return ranging from -5% to +3% on an annualised basis. The sector shone bright in the 5-year period ending in 2014, mainly owing to a number of products going off-patent, and due to the slow pace of approvals from the USFDA that stymied competition. The tide turned post-2014 though - the implementation of GST, coupled with a slower and more stringent approval process from the USFDA, combinedly hit the sector hard.
If Asset Manager conviction is to be believed, the sector may be in the process of bottoming out now - and this has prompted not one but two AMC's to launched NFO's (New Fund Offerings) in this space: ICICI Prudential with its P.H.D (Pharma, Healthcare & Diagnostics) Fund, and Mirae Asset Global Investments with its Mirae Asset Healthcare Fund respectively. The former opens for subscription from 25th June, while the latter opened on the 11th of the month.
