Investment objective & strategy
As of Aug. 26, 2025 · prospectusObjective. Capital appreciation.
Strategy. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of biotechnology companies and discovery research firms. The Fund predominantly invests in equity securities. For the Funds investment purposes, a biotechnology company or discovery research firm is one that has at least 50% of its earnings derived from biotechnology activities, or at least 50% of its assets devoted to such activities, based on the companys most recent fiscal year. Discovery research firms are in the early stages of drug research. Biotechnology activities are research, development, manufacture, and distribution of various biotechnological or biomedical products, services, and processes. This may include companies involved with genomics, genetic engineering, and gene therapy. It also includes companies involved … Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of biotechnology companies and discovery research firms. The Fund predominantly invests in equity securities. For the Funds investment purposes, a biotechnology company or discovery research firm is one that has at least 50% of its earnings derived from biotechnology activities, or at least 50% of its assets devoted to such activities, based on the companys most recent fiscal year. Discovery research firms are in the early stages of drug research. Biotechnology activities are research, development, manufacture, and distribution of various biotechnological or biomedical products, services, and processes. This may include companies involved with genomics, genetic engineering, and gene therapy. It also includes companies involved in the application and development of biotechnology in areas such as health care, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. In addition to its investments in biotechnology companies, the Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in equity or debt securities of any type of issuer. The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater portion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets in equity securities of smaller capitalization companies, which are generally companies with market capitalizations of less than $2 billion at the time of the Funds investment. The Fund anticipates that, under normal conditions, it will invest more of its assets in U.S. securities than in securities of any other single country. It is currently anticipated that the Funds investments in foreign securities will not exceed 20% of its total assets. The Fund may buy foreign securities that are traded in the U.S. or in foreign markets, as well as American, European, and Global Depositary Receipts. The investment manager is a research driven, fundamental investor, pursuing a growth strategy. As a "bottom-up" investor focusing primarily on individual securities, the investment manager seeks companies that have identifiable drivers of future earnings growth and that present, in the investment manager's opinion, the best trade-off between that potential earnings growth, business and financial risk, and valuation. Also, in seeking sustainable growth characteristics, the investment manager looks for companies that it believes can produce sustainable earnings growth and cash flow growth or the potential to generate income.
Top holdings
As of Jan. 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| GILEAD SCIENCES INC | — | $62.98M | 6.18% |
| AMGEN INC | — | $49.05M | 4.81% |
| VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC | — | $48.00M | 4.71% |
| JAZZ PHARMA PLC | — | $46.56M | 4.57% |
| REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS INC | — | $45.24M | 4.44% |
| ARGENX SE SPONSORED ADR | — | $41.15M | 4.04% |
| Franklin Institutional U.S. Government Money Market Fund | — | $35.32M | 3.47% |
| PRAXIS PRECISION MEDICINES INC | — | $32.87M | 3.23% |
| INSMED INC | — | $29.59M | 2.91% |
| Ascendis Pharma A/S | — | $29.33M | 2.88% |
Portfolio moves
Oct 31, 2025 → Jan 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| iShares Biotechnology ETF · IBB | 41% | 0.44% |
| Biotechnology Fund · RYOIX, RYOAX, RYBOX, RYCFX | 40% | 1.40% |
| Biotechnology Fund | 40% | 1.74% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| Franklin Advisers, Inc. | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of August 26, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of January 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).
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