While the pandemic has negatively impacted the earnings of the majority of companies there are those looking to profit from COVID-19. Hundreds of companies and research centres worldwide are racing to produce a coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Those companies that succeed will profit handsomely. This hasn’t passed investors by with speculative bets being placed on individual stocks (of companies researching a vaccine) in the hope of getting a big-ticket win in what feels increasingly like a COVID-19 vaccine lottery.
Take Gilead Sciences for example. The company’s stock price has been on a rollercoaster of a ride since the pandemic. Back in April the publication of a promising report about the company’s antiviral drug tests used for treating COVID-19 saw its share price rocket 12% in a single day.
By mid-April Gilead Sciences’ share price had rallied 35% from its January low, compared with a fall of 14% for the S&P 500 over the same period. Perhaps it should be unsurprising that the Healthcare Sector is the 4th best performing sector in the S&P 500, out of 11, year to date.
However investing in single stocks, especially of smaller biotechnology companies, is highly risky. Again, the fortunes of Gilead Sciences reflect this, having fallen by more than 20% since its April high after the previous euphoria turned out to be misplaced. While making speculative investments in individual stocks is not advisable is it possible to try and take advantage of the theme and potentially profit from a COVID-19 vaccine by investing via funds.
So in this article I have analysed over 1,200 unit trusts to ascertain their exposure to the following well-known companies, all of which are developing either a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.
Amgen
Amgen has expertise in novel antibody therapy development. Earlier this year Amgen began development of a treatment for those already suffering from COVID-19 as well as a preventative vaccine for COVID-19.
GlaxoSmithKline & Sanofi
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is one of the best-known names in pharmaceuticals, and the company joined forces with Sanofi in a bid to create a COVID-19 vaccine. At the end of July, the UK government signed a deal, with both companies, securing up to 60 million doses of their experimental treatment. Around the same time, Sanofi announced an agreement with the US government valued at $2.1 billion to supply 100 million doses of the experimental coronavirus vaccine.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is developing a Covid-19 treatment and vaccine with the University of Oxford which are now being used in large-scale clinical studies. This week Donald Trump expressed a wish to allow the AstraZeneca vaccine to bypass the normal US regulation in order to fast-track the drug and boost his election chances. AstraZeneca has rejected the offer.
Pfizer
The American pharmaceuticals company is attempting to co-develop an mRNA-based vaccine with German company BioNTech that prevents COVID-19. At the end of July Pfizer announced that it is moving onto Phase 3 of its vaccine development, with trials on 30,000 volunteers.
Johnsons & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson, is developing a COVID-19 vaccine with the US government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Phase 3 of its vaccine development is due to start in September
Funds with the highest 'vaccine' exposure
For this research piece, I analysed over 1,200 unit trusts to arrive at the shortlists below. In time I may look to include some investment trust or ETF examples too.
The first table below shows the funds with the highest total exposure to any of the 6 companies while the subsequent tables show the funds with the greatest exposure to each company in turn.
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi % | Total exposure % |
| Threadneedle - UK Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 10.9 | 7.3 | 18.2 | ||||
| Threadneedle - UK Equity Alpha Income | UK Equity Income | 10.3 | 7.3 | 17.6 | ||||
| AXA - Framlington UK Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 8.35 | 7.63 | 15.98 | ||||
| Threadneedle - UK Growth and Income | UK All Companies | 9.8 | 5.8 | 15.6 | ||||
| BNY Mellon - Equity Income Booster | UK Equity Income | 8.67 | 5.85 | 14.52 | ||||
| BNY Mellon - Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 8.76 | 5.68 | 14.44 | ||||
| L&G - Future World Gender in Leadership UK Index | UK All Companies | 7.9 | 6.2 | 14.1 | ||||
| BMO - UK Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 8 | 5.9 | 13.9 | ||||
| Sarasin - Fund for Charities - Thematic UK Equity | UK All Companies | 7.9 | 5.6 | 13.5 | ||||
| Threadneedle - Monthly Extra Income | UK Equity & Bond Income | 8.3 | 5.2 | 13.5 | ||||
| Fidelity - Moneybuilder Dividend | UK Equity Income | 8.39 | 4.95 | 13.34 | ||||
| SUTL - Cazenove Charity Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 4.86 | 8.48 | 13.34 | ||||
| Schroder - Core UK Equity | UK All Companies | 5.73 | 7.51 | 13.24 | ||||
| Sarasin - UK Equity | UK Equity Income | 7.8 | 5.4 | 13.2 | ||||
| BMO - Responsible UK Income | UK All Companies | 7.5 | 5.5 | 13 | ||||
| BMO - Select UK Equity | UK All Companies | 7.5 | 5.4 | 12.9 | ||||
| LGIM - PMC Future World UK Equity Index | UK All Companies | 7.24 | 5.39 | 12.63 | ||||
| iShares - 100 UK Equity Index (UK) | UK All Companies | 7.46 | 5.03 | 12.49 | ||||
| L&G - Future World ESG UK Index | UK All Companies | 6.8 | 5.6 | 12.4 | ||||
| L&G - Global Health & Pharmaceuticals Index Trust | Global | 2.5 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 12.3 |
Funds with the highest exposure to AstraZeneca
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi 5 | Total % |
| Threadneedle - UK Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 10.9 | 7.3 | 18.2 | ||||
| Threadneedle - UK Equity Alpha Income | UK Equity Income | 10.3 | 7.3 | 17.6 | ||||
| Threadneedle - UK Growth and Income | UK All Companies | 9.8 | 5.8 | 15.6 | ||||
| L&G - Ethical Trust | UK All Companies | 9.7 | 9.7 | |||||
| BNY Mellon - Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 8.76 | 5.68 | 14.44 |
Funds with the highest exposure to Glaxosmithkline
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi 5 | Total % |
| Schroder - UK Alpha Income | UK Equity Income | 8.94 | 8.94 | |||||
| SUTL - Cazenove Charity Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 4.86 | 8.48 | 13.34 | ||||
| Threadneedle - UK Monthly Income | UK Equity Income | 8 | 8 | |||||
| AXA - Framlington UK Equity Income | UK Equity Income | 8.35 | 7.63 | 15.98 | ||||
| Schroder - Core UK Equity | UK All Companies | 5.73 | 7.51 | 13.24 |
Funds with the highest exposure to Amgen
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi % | Total % |
| AXA - Framlington Biotech | Specialist | 6.95 | 6.95 | |||||
| SJP - North American | North America | 3.67 | 3.67 | |||||
| Liontrust - Global Income | Global Equity Income | 3.63 | 3.63 | |||||
| Schroder - Global Healthcare | Global | 3.51 | 3.25 | 6.76 | ||||
| L&G - Global Health & Pharmaceuticals Index Trust | Global | 2.5 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 12.3 |
Funds with the highest exposure to Johnson & Johnson
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi % | Total % |
| L&G - Global Health & Pharmaceuticals Index Trust | Global | 2.5 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 12.3 | |||
| Huntress - IFSL Ravenscroft Huntress Global Blue Chip | Global | 3.8 | 4.44 | 8.24 | ||||
| Jupiter - Global Equity Income |
Global Equity Income
|
3.66 | 3.66 | |||||
| M&G - North American Value | North America | 3.5 | 3.2 | 6.7 | ||||
| Threadneedle - US Equity Income | North America | 3.4 | 3.4 |
Funds with the highest exposure to Pfizer
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi % | Total % |
| Fidelity - American Special Situations | North America | 4.67 | 4.67 | |||||
| L&G - Global Health & Pharmaceuticals Index Trust | Global | 2.5 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 12.3 | |||
| M&G - North American Value | North America | 3.5 | 3.2 | 6.7 | ||||
| Fidelity - Global Enhanced Income | Global Equity Income | 3.08 | 3.08 | |||||
| Fidelity - Global Dividend | Global Equity Income | 3 | 3 |
Funds with the highest exposure to Sanofi
| Fund | Sector | AstraZeneca % | GSK % | Amgen % | Johnson & Johnson % | Pfizer % | Sanofi % | Total % |
| Invesco - European Opportunities (UK) | Europe Excluding UK | 5.99 | 5.99 | |||||
| Invesco - European Equity Income (UK) | Europe Excluding UK | 5.7 | 5.7 | |||||
| Invesco - European Equity (UK) | Europe Excluding UK | 4.95 | 4.95 | |||||
| MI - Metropolis Value | Global | 4.79 | 4.79 | |||||
| Schroder - Responsible Value UK Equity | UK All Companies | 4.62 | 4.63 | 9.25 |
