The £1.3bn Worldwide Healthcare Trust has announced changes to its management team, as lead manager Sven Borho steps down with immediate effect.
Existing co-manager Trevor Polischuk is now taking on the role of lead manager, while Geoff Hsu has been freshly appointed as co-manager. Hsu is also lead manager of OrbiMed’s £313m Biotech Growth investment trust.
Borho currently helps lead the OrbiMed public equity and emerging markets teams and had been involved in the running of Worldwide Healthcare Trust since its launch in 1995, becoming a named manager in 2013.
He will also be stepping down as a director of the company “in due course”, a position he has held since June 2018.
In response to the announcement, Winterflood said: “Given [Borho’s] long tenure, his decision to step back from the industry should not come as a huge surprise, although the immediacy of the team changes, with no stated handover period, is reasonably uncommon.”
Nonetheless, Winterflood acknowledged Polischuk’s “significant experience and expertise in this area”, alongside Hsu’s own 24-year tenure at the firm.
“As such, we have no concerns over the impact of these changes on the strategy or performance of Worldwide Healthcare Trust, with Hsu’s biotechnology specialism complementing Polischuk’s focus on pharmaceuticals and broader healthcare themes,” Winterflood said.