Invesco Fund Manager: Boomers Bolstering Drug Sector
April 22, 1998 3:45 PM
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Drug companies are
benefiting from the aging of baby boomers, according to
John Schroer, portfolio manager of the Invesco Strategic
Health Sciences Fund.
"We still feel very positive about the drug group overall,"
Schroer said in an interview on CNBC Wednesday
afternoon. "From a macro standpoint the drug group is
still benefiting from the baby boomers, who are all
entering into the period of their lives where they start to
take the most cardiovascular drugs and other depression
drugs, and so forth."
While the valuations of a few companies in the sector,
including Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Warner-Lambert Co.
(WLA), are "a little higher than they have been
historically," he said, the group as a whole is trading at
"about a 40% premium on a multiple" to the overall
market.
"Historically that's well within the range of what's
acceptable," he said. "And considering the superior
growth potential of the group, we're still very
comfortable with that."
Schroer said he likes Pfizer, Warner-Lambert,
SmithKline Beecham PLC (SBH) and ICN
Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ICN). |
