The Biotechnology Fund returned 99.1% over three years, against a peer median of 27.7%, yet it returned -5% over the latest three months. It is an active equity fund in the Equity Health Care sector, run by Polar Capital, and every return here is in sterling and cumulative. The returns are as at 31 October 2026, and the sections below set the three year figure beside each shorter window and say what each measure covers.
What the figures show against peers
FE fundinfo files the fund under the Equity Health Care sector, and that peer group supplies every comparison in this note. Over three years to 31 October 2026 the fund returned 99.1% against a peer median of 27.7%. It beat 93% of its peers on that window, which is 71.4 percentage points above the median.
The shorter windows read differently. Over one year the fund returned 16% against a peer median of 19.2%, which is 3.2 percentage points below the median, and it beat 35% of its peers. Over six months it returned 6.7%, which is 5.7 percentage points below the median. Over three months it returned -5%, which is 8.9 percentage points below the median.
Of the four windows, the three year window shows the widest gap, at 71.4 percentage points, and it is the only window that can be called the widest. The three shorter windows all sit below the peer median. A cumulative three year figure is one number covering a long stretch, so it can sit beside a weaker recent quarter without either figure being wrong.
A peer median is the middle value of the funds in the group: half returned more and half returned less. The share of peers beaten is a different measure, a count of funds rather than a size of gap. The two can move apart, which is why both are shown here.
Dated events and exposure
Our events list records two entries dated 28 October 2026, both monetary: the Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3.75% to 4.00%, and a second entry adds that it signalled a hawkish tilt. That date fell inside the three month window, the shortest window the fund’s figures cover.
The fund held 73.5% in the USA at 5 October 2026, against a peer average of 21.1%, which is 52.4 percentage points above that average. The event and the weight are reported side by side and no more: the data does not link the decision to the fund’s return.
The peer split gives a second view of the sector exposure. Peers that held more than the fund in Health Care, a share of peers equal to 32%, returned a median 18.1% over one year. Peers that held less returned a median of 19.2%. The two medians sit close together, and the split alone does not point to a pattern.
What the sector and country weights measure
The fund held 91.6% in Health Care at 5 October 2026, against a peer average of 31.3%, which is 60.3 percentage points above that average. The peer average counts any peer with no holding in the sector as zero, so it is lowered by funds that hold health care only as one part of a broader portfolio. Much of the gap therefore reflects how the portfolios are built, not how they performed.
The same date gives two smaller country weights. The Netherlands held 5.6% of the fund against a peer average of 1.4%, which is 4.2 percentage points above the average. Canada held 3.9% against 0.4%, which is 3.5 percentage points above. Both are small beside the USA weight, and both differ from the peer group in the same direction.
The ten largest positions made up 40.6% of the fund at 31 October 2026, against a peer average of 45.7%. On that measure the fund holds less in its ten largest names than the average peer, even though it holds far more in one sector. The two measures answer different questions: one counts the weight of the ten largest names, the other counts the weight of one industry.
Windows, volatility and the regulatory rating
Each return window measures one stretch of time and ends on the same date. A three year figure covers a much longer period than a three month figure, so the two measure different things and are not in conflict. The six month figure of 6.7% sits between them, and one year at 16% sits between that and the three year result.
The fund’s regulatory risk rating (SRRI) is 6 on a scale of 1 to 7. Volatility over three years, the annualised standard deviation of returns, was 21.6% as at 5 July 2026. That date is earlier than the date of the returns, so the two are separate snapshots. Volatility describes how widely returns have varied, in either direction.
Share class, cost and size
The class shown here is the S EUR Inc class, with an ongoing charge (OCF) of 0.82%. The OCF is the annual running cost of the class, taken from the fund. The peer median is 0.95%, and 67% of peers charge more than this class does. Charges also vary within the fund itself: the lowest OCF across its share classes is 0.82% and the highest is 1.57%.
That spread matters when reading any return figure. A class with a higher charge returns less than one with a lower charge, all else equal, so a number quoted for one class is not the number for another. The returns in this note are in sterling and relate to the class named.
The fund was launched in October 2013 and is £2.9bn in size as at 31 October 2026. Size and age are descriptive facts here. They are not measures of quality.
What kind of fund this is and what it cannot tell
This is an active equity fund that holds one sector, health care, at 91.6% of the portfolio, with 73.5% in the USA, managed by Polar Capital. Funds of this kind are often described as sector specialists, built to hold one industry rather than a broad spread. A fund holding one sector depends on the markets and currencies of that sector and region.
Its ongoing charge is 0.82% against a peer median of 0.95%, and its SRRI is 6 on the scale of 1 to 7. The volatility figure of 21.6% is the most direct statement here of how widely the fund’s returns have moved. This note covers the S EUR Inc class, and other classes differ in currency, charges and distributions.
What the figures cannot show is why the three year return is so far ahead of the peer median, or why the last three months were weaker. Peer medians, shares of peers beaten and sector weights describe the shape of the fund and the group, but none of them attributes a return to a cause. The fund’s own page and the Fund Finder let a reader check other share classes, the same windows for other funds and the sector weights directly.
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Capital is at risk.
This note describes how the fund is built and how it has performed; it is general information, not a recommendation or personal advice, and does not take account of any reader’s circumstances.
Source: FE fundinfo. Returns and charges as at 31 October 2026; other figures dated where shown.
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Capital is at risk.
Funds Benchmark provides research and tooling for institutional and private investors. Nothing in this note is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific fund.
