Some stocks and exchange traded funds cobble together a few months, maybe a year or two of solid gains before falling off. Rare are the investments that can deliver staggering returns over multiple years or even a decade.
The PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Portfolio (NYSEArca: PJP) has done just that. PJP is a departure from the traditional market capitalization-weighted health care ETF in that its underlying index evaluates companies for inclusion based on “price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value,” according to PowerShares. [A Fabulous Pharma ETF]
“PJP tracks an industry with seemingly endless demand from an aging population looking to live forever. What gave it the edge over its biotech peers is that it is concentrated in only 30 companies. ETFs with such a small number of holdings tend to do really well—or really poorly,” reports Eric Balchunas for Bloomberg.
As Bloomberg notes, PJP has returned a staggering 420% over the past decade. The ETF is again among this year’s top-performing sector funds.
However, if there is one thing PJP has recently become known for, aside from its stellar returns, it is being front-and-center in the pharmaceuticals industry consolidation. That theme, which has become increasingly prominent this year, has shined added light on the the $2.15 billion PJP, an ETF that recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. [Pharma ETFs Like Mylan-for-Perrigo News]
As home to companies such as Allergan (NYSE: AGN), Perrigo (NasdaqGS: PRGO) and Mylan (NYSE: MYL), among others, PJP is awash in specialty pharmaceuticals buyers and sellers. For the moment, PJP’s lineup is probably littered more with buyers than sellers, the result of the ETF’s weights to the largest biotech stocks and the aforementioned blue-chip pharma names. However, several of PJP’s other holdings have been bandied about as potential targets.
“The ETF’s 3 percent stake in $112.5 billion Allergan, for example, contributed 16 percent of overall return. A 2.3 percent holding in Salix Pharmaceuticals, meanwhile, which had about a $7 billion market cap when it was acquired, contributed 19.2 percent to overall return,” according to Bloomberg.
PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Portfolio
