Invest in cutting-edge healthcare

Max King looks at one fund allowing investors to put their money in cutting-edge medical research.

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Syncona: a good way into innovative drugs
(Image credit: wildpixel)

"The UK has a world-leading research base in life sciences," says Martin Murphy, chief executive of healthcare investment fund Syncona, "but the value from it has been captured in the US. The UK has punched far below its weight, selling out too early while the US has built multi-billion-dollar companies from a standing start." As we explain in more detail in this week's cover story, a small number of UK-based fund managers have set out to change that, aiming to take advantage of the UK's technology expertise while alleviating its shortage of capital. Neil Woodford, who raised £800m for his Patient Capital Trust nearly two years ago, was one of these, but the trust's results so far have been disappointing and the shares now trade below the issue price.

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Max King
Investment Writer

Max has an Economics degree from the University of Cambridge and is a chartered accountant. He worked at Investec Asset Management for 12 years, managing multi-asset funds investing in internally and externally managed funds, including investment trusts. This included a fund of investment trusts which grew to £120m+. Max has managed ten investment trusts (winning many awards) and sat on the boards of three trusts – two directorships are still active.

After 39 years in financial services, including 30 as a professional fund manager, Max took semi-retirement in 2017. Max has been a MoneyWeek columnist since 2016 writing about investment funds and more generally on markets online, plus occasional opinion pieces. He also writes for the Investment Trust Handbook each year and has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and other publications. See here for details of current investments held by Max.