Despite a spate of deal-making in the pharmaceuticals industry, including official takeovers, rumors and potentially hostile acquisitions, investors have been departing once beloved health care exchange traded funds for less volatile pastures.
“Investors pulled a net of $867.5 million from exchange-traded funds focused on health care in the past five days through” April 24, reports Sonali Basak for Bloomberg.
Overall, health care ETFs have been among the top asset-gathering funds this year, but the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLE) has attracted more new investments than any other ETF with over $2.6 billion in year-to-date inflows. [Energy ETFs Dominate Sector Flows]
Last week, biotech and health care funds posted their biggest outflows on record as $1 billion flowed into energy funds, according to EPFR Global.
Of the $867.5 million Bloomberg reports was yanked from health care ETFs through April 24, over 93% of that total came out of just two ETFs: The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV) and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGM: IBB).
Even talk of a potential takeover of Botox maker Allergan orchestrated by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) was not enough to get investors interested in pharmaceuticals ETFs with solid allocations to those stocks.
The iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (NYSEArca: IHE) and the Market Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (NYSEArca: PPH) rose 3.3% and 2.5%, respectively, last week, but saw no inflows or outflows. [Ackman Would Like These Pharma ETFs]
A portfolio manager quoted by Bloomberg “said medical-device companies and some drug companies are good areas for investment, and the industry consolidation means higher earnings potential for big-name pharmaceuticals.”
The iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (NYSEArca: IHI) is up 3% this year and has brought in $245.7, or 34.5%, of its current assets under management tally since the start of 2014. [Medical Device ETF Soars]
iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF
