Scottish Mortgage boosted by healthcare and technology performance – Scottish Mortgage (SMT) has published its results for the six months to 30 September 2021. During the period, its NAV increased by 16% from 1,195.1p per share to 1,381.1p per share, compared to a 9% increase in its index. Meanwhile the board has recommended an interim dividend of 1.52p, an increase of 5% over last year’s payment of 1.45p.

The team said it has been the long-term and exponential improvements in computing technologies, genomic sequencing and energy storage that continue to strike them as the most important determinates of long-term returns.

It said: ‘These long-term trends may be too slow to shape financial news headlines in a single period but they compound over time as they grow in impact. Moreover, the powerful trends in computing technologies appear to not just be continuing but broadening in utility and application beyond the narrow remits of consumer internet to industries larger and far more diverse.

‘This broadening is slowly being reflected in the changing shape of the portfolio. The Trust’s investment in healthcare and biology companies for example has grown from 11.6% a year ago to 21.4% today. We are finding and supporting a growing number of businesses that we believe are benefiting from the intersection of biology and information technology.’

SMT’s largest holding, Moderna has been the greatest contributor to this change, writing what is effectively code in the form of RNA to program human cells. It said Moderna has helped the world to start escaping the tragedies and confinement of the last 18 months. However, it is the breadth and scalability of its mRNA technology platform rather than its Covid vaccine that holds the greatest promise. Its pipeline of programs is both large and growing, targeting diseases such as flu, Zika, HIV, cancer and many more.

Meanwhile, the managers continue to see opportunities for technology platforms to improve resource allocation in the economy across a growing range of areas such as freight, food and finance.

SMT : Scottish Mortgage boosted by healthcare and technology performance

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