PAID CONTENT
The healthcare sector is in the spotlight in 2021 as every citizen, in every country, pins their hopes on Big Pharma delivering a fast and effective solution to the COVID-19 virus.
Just 12 months after the global pandemic began, the fastest and most coordinated effort ever undertaken by drug companies is distributing vaccines by the millions a day. This achievement is raising hopes for a return to normal by the end of this year and offers valuable lessons into how to respond to future outbreaks.
“In the last year, Big Pharma has shown it has a real capacity to change our lives for the better,” says Paul MacDonald, Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager at Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. in Oakville, Ontario. “As a result, our attitudes towards drug companies have changed.”
A January research paper from Ohio State University slammed specialty ETFs for poor risk-adjusted returns, high fees and lack of diversification, concluding that such funds “deliver a negative alpha of about –4%” annually.
“[T]hese [specialty] products compete for the attention of unsophisticated investors who chase past performance and neglect the risks arising from … under-diversified portfolios,” the paper states. “Specialized ETFs, on average, have generated disappointing performance for their investors.”
But Canadian ETF providers take issue with that notion, contending that ETFs with innovation themes are sustainable and that thematic funds can be beneficial when used appropriately. The returns of Canada’s top-performing thematic ETFs add credibility to that argument.
Harvest Portfolios Group Issues Canadaâs First Travel & Leisure Index ETF Tracking Solactive Index Date
14/01/2021
The traveling sector was one of the most affected economic segments that were struck by the pandemic. On the other hand, traveling businesses are projected to experience the tailwinds of a globally recovering economy, leaving investors with an attractive opportunity to invest. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. (“Harvest”) assumes sound potential growth of the travel and leisure sector and issued Canada’s first travel & leisure index ETF, the Harvest Travel & Leisure Index ETF (“TRVL”), which enables Canadian investors to access this well-diversified sector. The ETF tracks the Solactive Travel & Leisure Index.
Rudy Luukko
Along with its horrific human toll, the Covid-19 pandemic brought widespread disruption that will continue to shape the investment landscape in the new year. On the bright side, there’s hope that mass dissemination of vaccines will alleviate the global health crisis and revive economic growth.
Apart from the initial market shock in March that caused all sectors to plunge, the pandemic has had mixed results for equities. Selected growth stocks surged in 2020, especially in the technology sector, amid the shift to remote working, shopping and education. At the other extreme, industries such as airlines and hotels sustained devastating losses and saw plummeting stock prices.