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Easing valuations, global patent expiry cycle support outlook
Business Standard
|January 22, 2026
PHARMA AND HEALTHCARE FUNDS
Healthcare funds, a thematic category, belied investors’ hopes in 2025. These schemes lost 2.9 per cent on average in calendar year (CY) 2025. This was a sharp reversal from their strong run in CY23 and CY24, when the category returned 34.7 percent and 39.6 per cent, respectively.
“Underperformance was driven by tariff uncertainty, price erosion fears in certain limited-competition products for largecap export generic pharma companies and startup losses from new hospitals for some hospital names,” says A Anandha Padmanabhan, senior fund manager - equities, PGIM India Mutual Fund.
Healthcare funds are required to invest at least 80 per cent of their assets in healthcare stocks. Their universe includes pharmaceutical companies, corporate hospital chains, diagnostics firms, and manufacturers of healthcare equipment and consumables, as well as standalone health insurance companies. Some schemes also take exposure to overseas-listed healthcare companies.
Defensive play
This story is from the January 22, 2026 edition of Business Standard.
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