You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Health care stocks, as represented by the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF , have outperformed the broader market, providing investors with a …

Probably the most important trend fueling growth in healthcare is the aging … Copyright © 1999-2020 InvestSMART Financial Services Pty Ltd. All rights reserved | Australian Financial Services Licensee: AFSL # 226435 | ABN 70 089 038 531 | The healthcare vertical has been the best performer – up 34 per cent – of the ASX 200 indices this calendar year, and the bulk of the gains have come in the second half. # InvestSMART Portfolio performance figures are after management and admin fees excl.

S&P/ASX 200 Health Care (Sector): Live performance data, current price, company overview … Historical performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Whilst every care has been taken in producing these numbers, InvestSMART does not guarantee the accuracy of the figures produced in the table. Product disclosure statements for financial products offered through InvestSMART can be downloaded from this website or obtained by contacting 1300 880 160. Fee data may not include all costs being charged such as platform and adviser fees. Don’t miss a thing, subscribe to our newsletter list now.Analysis by Star Investing has found that of the 80 healthcare stocks on the ASX, only 21 of them have managed to gain ground in the past year — suggesting that the sector has underperformed.Taken as an average, microcap healthcare stocks have lost 17.8 percent despite some impressive numbers up top.Over the same time period, the all ordinaries has gained about 7 percent.But, does that mean you should think twice about investing in Australia’s microcap healthcare space?Remember, none of the following is investment advice — always consult a professional before making investment decisions.A lot of the companies with a market cap under $50 million are early-stage — if they were already commercialising their research, they probably wouldn’t have a market cap below $50 million.So it makes sense that a majority of the stocks on the list haven’t gained in the past year.Being early-stage stocks with a relatively low buy-in cost, it means you can accrue many more shares that you would otherwise be able to do.Coming off a low base, it could even be argued that the healthcare sector offers some attractive options for value investors.Meanwhile, the quality of the companies themselves isn’t all that bad — with great research houses in Australia meeting an increasingly international outlook.Healthcare stocks, almost by definition, can take a fair while to commercialise or scale — leading shareholders to express frustration at times.It’s about that old Warren Buffett maxim: be greedy when others are fearful.Besides, with healthcare costs going up all the time and the world’s population steadily increasing and greying, if there’s one sector you should be long on it’s healthcare.Besides, if you are able to pick a winner from the sector you should be rewarded: the average gain for companies that did gain was 61.48 percent over the past year.The average loss for companies that didn’t was 46.03 percent.When three quarters of the sector aren’t pulling their weight, maybe that’s just not a good sector to get involved in.The fact that 59 companies out of 80 didn’t gain during the past year when the broader market returned over 7 percent probably speaks volumes.The market, at least in the healthcare sector, appears to not have patience for early-stage small companies in the sector — and whether that’s wise or not, their performance has reflected this.If you were to throw a dart at this list, you’d only have a 1 in 4 shot in hitting a winner.
risen by None of the content on Star Investing is intended to constitute financial product advice.

In December 2019, Bloomberg labelled the company as globally the best-performing stock of the decade with a 16150% return. ^ Only funds and investment products included in the Morningstar Australia database are available for fee and performance comparison. does not include fees charged within any ETF held in this portfolio, estimated to be approximately 0.18% (indirect cost ratio). For the effect of fees on your cumulative returns, please see our report Only a quarter of the healthcare stocks on the ASX under $50 million in market cap have gained ground this year — which is either good or bad depending on your perspective..

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This is the best asset to own to start saving for your early retirement ... commentary and opinion on some of the top ASX healthcare shares.