The healthcare industry brings together a wide variety of companies, ranging from those that provide medical services or create life-saving technology to those that work behind the scenes to make the entire healthcare system more efficient. Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund (JNGLX 0.17%) aims to be a sector expert on healthcare, looking for the stocks that can provide growth through innovation in the field. With extremely strong performance and top ratings from mutual fund analyst company Morningstar, Janus Global Life Sciences is appealing to more than just those who specialize in healthcare investments.

Stats on Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund

Metric for Assets Under Management

$3.46 billion

5-Year Average Annual Return

21.1%

Number of Stocks Held

91

Portfolio Turnover

37%

Data source: Janus Henderson Investors.

What is the Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund's investment objective?

The investment objective of the Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund is to provide consistent returns by investing in companies that address unmet medical needs or that make the healthcare system more efficient. The fund aims to balance exposure across different subsectors of the healthcare sector to outperform its benchmark and funds that have similar investment objectives.

Janus aims to find growth in healthcare by taking advantage of global demographic trends that have made it easier for providers to innovate. By using extensive research of companies' fundamental prospects and being willing to look across the globe for the right investments, the Janus fund believes that it can build up a good track record of performance over the long run.

What is the Janus fund's current allocation of assets?

Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences has about three-quarters of its assets in U.S. stocks, with another 20% in Europe and a very small portion in Japanese stocks. From a size perspective, about 65% of the portfolio is invested in large-cap stocks, with another 30% in stocks with market caps between $1 billion and $10 billion and the remaining 5% in true small caps.

From a subsector perspective, the Janus fund is well diversified. Biotechnology makes up about a third of the portfolio, with considerable exposure to the giants of the industry. Pharmaceutical stocks have the next highest allocation with more than a quarter of the fund's assets. Healthcare equipment stocks and healthcare providers and services companies each have about 15% of assets, leaving just a small remaining portion for life sciences tools and healthcare technology companies.

The Janus Henderson Investors logo.

Image source: Janus Henderson Investors.

How much does the Janus fund cost?

The Janus fund's expenses vary by which fund class you own. Class D shares have annual expenses of 0.84%, but the fund class is closed to certain new investors. Most shares are offered through financial intermediaries, and Class A shares impose an upfront sales load of as much as 5.75% for investments of less than $50,000. Alternatively, Class C shares allow for as much as a 1% annual expense ratio boost for 12b-1 fees to compensate for sales and shareholder servicing activities. Other share classes are available for institutions and other types of investors.

How much income does the fund pay shareholders?

Different parts of the healthcare sector have very different philosophies with respect to dividends, and many of the high-growth stocks that Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences invests in don't have high dividend yields. As a result, the distribution yield on the fund over the past 12 months is just 0.2%.

Is Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences right for you?

It's hard to dispute the strong returns the Janus fund has produced for its longtime shareholders. Even after taking into account the huge hit that paying a sales load has on long-term returns, the fund has nevertheless managed to outperform both the overall market and its benchmark. With portfolio manager Andy Acker having helped lead the fund's management since 2007 and having been involved with the fund for several years before that, investors can feel comfortable about continuity of asset management going forward.

Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences has done well for its investors by sticking to its investment objective. With plenty of potential for life-saving treatments and other advances in the healthcare industry, you can expect the Janus fund to watch the sector closely to find the most promising investments available.