Photo: Anesa Mulabecirovic Sahnoun © DNB Asset Management
By Anesa Mulabecirovic Sahnoun, manager of the DNB Fund Women’s Health
Women’s health is playing an increasingly prominent role in the healthcare sector and is now emerging as an investment theme in its own right. DNB Asset Management is launching the DNB Fund Women’s Health in Switzerland, which it describes as the first actively managed global equity fund dedicated exclusively to this theme. The Norwegian asset manager is part of the listed DNB Group, one of Scandinavia’s largest financial services providers.
The main drivers of this growth are demographic and medical. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, around 1.2 billion women worldwide will have reached menopause by 2030. At the same time, advances in diagnostics and medical technology are enabling earlier and more accurate detection of disease, while gender-specific differences are being better integrated into research and treatment.
“Demographic change, medical progress and growing awareness of women’s specific healthcare needs are reshaping the healthcare market. For investors, this creates a long-term investment theme that goes far beyond specialist areas such as reproductive medicine,” says Bénédict Fatio, Head of the French-speaking Market at DNB Asset Management. “With the DNB Fund Women’s Health, we are now making this investment universe accessible to professional and private investors in Switzerland.”
Women’s health is not confined to a niche segment within a few industries. It spans more than 600 companies across pharmaceuticals, medical technology, diagnostics, technology and consumer health. From this universe, the portfolio team selects between 35 and 50 stocks, ranging from companies specialising in women’s health to international groups for which it is one of several key growth drivers. The portfolio invests globally, across the United States, Europe and Asia, combining established companies with smaller growth businesses.
DNB structures this investment universe around three pillars: prevention, treatment and quality of life. These cover early detection and screening, reproductive and gynaecological health, autoimmune diseases and oncology, as well as pelvic floor health, bone and heart health, and healthy ageing. The portfolio also takes into account both diseases that affect women exclusively and those that affect them disproportionately or present differently in women.
The strategy is managed by Anesa Mulabecirovic Sahnoun, who holds a doctorate in medicine and has more than 15 years of experience in Norwegian and international hospitals, in clinical development and in the healthcare industry. She has published more than ten scientific articles in international medical journals and has served as an expert for the Research Council of Norway. Since 2021, she has co-managed the DNB Health Care and DNB Biotechnology funds. She developed both the investment approach and the new fund’s investable universe.
“We are seeing a growing number of companies developing innovative solutions to meet women’s healthcare needs, which have so far been insufficiently addressed. This gives us a broad investment universe, ranging from diagnostics and medical technology to pharmaceuticals and consumer health,” explains Anesa Mulabecirovic Sahnoun.
She is supported by DNB Asset Management’s Healthcare, Technology and Global Equities teams. This collaboration is designed in particular to facilitate the assessment of diversified groups whose women’s health activities account for only part of their business and therefore require closer scrutiny.
The DNB Fund Women’s Health is classified as an Article 8 fund under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
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With around EUR 130 billion in assets under management, DNB Asset Management is one of the Nordic region’s leading asset managers and part of the DNB Group, Norway’s largest financial services group. Its offering includes thematic and sector strategies, notably in technology, energy, defence and demographic change, as well as Nordic investments. DNB also offers enhanced index strategies designed to deliver outperformance, as well as alternative funds. With offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Luxembourg, Zurich and Madrid, DNB combines local expertise with an international footprint.
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