GAM Investments has been awarded a US$200 million advisory agreement from First Securities Investment Trust Co Ltd (FSITC), a wholly owned subsidiary of First Financial Group, a publicly listed company on the Taiwan stock exchange. The agreement has a specific focus on medical innovation driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI), as well as precision medicine. It will be managed by Christophe Eggmann, portfolio manager for healthcare equities at GAM. The strategy seeks to provide long-term capital growth by investing globally in innovation-driven companies active in all healthcare sub-sectors, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, healthcare services and supplies, medical technology as well as specialty pharmaceuticals and generics.

"Today, the healthcare sector knows more about diseases and targets and has better tools to design targeted drugs than ever before. Therefore, there has never been a better time to invest in healthcare innovation. Innovation is at the core of every investment decision we make and remains the most important driver of growth and value creation," says Eggmann. Tommy Chang, portfolio manager at FSITC, adds, "AI precision medicine combines a wide range of technologies, facilitating faster treatment and advancing the entire medical sequence from disease prevention to diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. The strategy allows us to capture this innovation potential in our portfolio."

"We are honoured to be selected by FSITC and look forward to working closely with them to achieve their investment goals. This win is testimony to our investment management team's deep knowledge and understanding of the healthcare sector. We continue to see strong interest in our product offering across Asia as we grow in the region," says Rossen Djounov, head of GAM Asia.