New Year’s Resolution: Shedding Light on the Drugs that Shed Pounds

GLP-1s and the blockbuster drugs associated with them are on the top of everyone’s investment watchlist in 2024. 

In the latest installment of the Baron Capital Thought Leadership Forum, portfolio managers Neal Kaufman and Josh Riegelhaupt, and research analyst Wendy Lin explain how GLP-1s work, their transformative impact on the medical approach to weight loss, and the implications for growth companies leading in the production of GLP-1 drugs.

Listen to the audio-only recording:

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the investment carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectuses contain this and other information about the Funds. You may obtain them from the Funds’ distributor, Baron Capital, Inc., by calling 1-800-99-BARON or visiting baronfunds.com. Please read them carefully before investing.

Baron Health Care Fund's annualized returns for the Institutional Shares as of December 31, 2023: 1-year, 6.42%; 5-year, 15.43%; Since Inception (4/30/2018) 12.54%. The gross annual expense ratio for the Institutional Shares as of December 31, 2022 was 0.90%, but the net expense ratio was 0.85% (net of reimbursements from the adviser).

Russell 3000 Health Care Index's annualized returns as of December 31, 2023: 1-year, 2.87%; 5-year, 10.79%;  Since Fund Inception (4/30/2018) 10.38%.

Morningstar Health Category Average returns as of December 31, 2023: 1-year, 3.22%; 5-year, 8.65%;  Since Fund Inception (4/30/2018) 6.96%.

As of 12/31/2023, the Morningstar Health Category consisted of 176, 135, and 138 share classes for the 1-, 5-, and since inception (4/30/2018) periods, respectively. Morningstar ranked Baron Health Care Fund in the 25th, 1st, and 1st percentiles, respectively.

As of 12/31/2023, the Morningstar Ratings™ were based on the Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measures of 158, 135, and 158 share classes for the 3-year, 5-year, and Overall periods, respectively. The Baron Health Care Fund received 3, 5, and 4 stars, respectively. The Morningstar Ratings™ are for the Institutional Share Class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics.

The Morningstar Ratings™ are for the Institutional share class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics. The Morningstar Ratings are based on the Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measures.

The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10- year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

Morningstar calculates the Morningstar Health Category Average performance and rankings using its Fractional Weighting methodology. Morningstar rankings are based on total returns and do not include sales charges. Total returns do account for management, administrative, and 12b-1 fees and other costs automatically deducted from fund assets.

© 2024 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.  The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its affiliates or content providers; (2) may not be copied, adapted or distributed; (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely; and (4) does not constitute advice of any kind, whether investment, tax, legal or otherwise. User is solely responsible for ensuring that any use of this information complies with all laws, regulations and restrictions applicable to it.  Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

MORNINGSTAR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DELETION, DAMAGE, LOSS OR FAILURE TO STORE ANY PRODUCT OUTPUT, COMPANY CONTENT OR OTHER CONTENT.

The Russell 3000® Health Care Index is an unmanaged index representative of companies involved in medical services or health care in the Russell 3000 Index, which is comprised of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies as determined by total market capitalization. The S&P 500 Index measures the performance of 500 widely held large cap U.S. companies. All rights in the FTSE Russell Index (the “Index”) vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the Index. Russell® is a trade mark of the relevant LSE Group company and is used by any other LSE Group company under license. Neither LSE Group nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data and no party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. The Fund includes reinvestment of dividends, net of withholding taxes, while the Russell 3000® Health Care Index and S&P 500 Index include reinvestment of dividends before taxes. Reinvestment of dividends positively impacts the performance results. The indexes are unmanaged. Index performance is not Fund performance. Investors cannot invest directly in an index.

BAMCO, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Baron Capital, Inc. is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA).