Tema launches its second targeted healthcare fund: the Tema Cardiovascular and Metabolic ETF (HRTS)

Tema ETFs (“Tema”) is excited to announce the launch of its actively managed Tema Cardiovascular and Metabolic ETF (HRTS), on Nasdaq. HRTS is the first ETF globally seeking to provide long-term growth by investing in companies that lead the fight against obesity and diabetes, or metabolic diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. The HRTS portfolio will be managed by David K. Song, MD, PhD, CFA, who has led biotechnology and healthcare investment teams throughout his extensive 25-year career, including roles at Rockefeller Capital Management, Millennium and Balyasny. The portfolio will be balanced across key technologies and company profiles, ranging from diagnostics and care to therapeutics and clinical products, and with exposure to both established and emerging biopharma companies.

“We are happy to expand our thematic healthcare fund offering with the HRTS ETF following the launch of our oncology ETF CANC.” said Maurits Pot, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Tema. “Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are closely intertwined, combining a larger, well-established area of healthcare with a burgeoning new biopharma sector, obesity. This area has seen a recent burst of innovation transforming patient lives and outcomes. We believe exposure to these growth areas needs to be carefully risk managed by a portfolio manager with expertise in the field, in order to navigate a confluence of, scientific, regulatory and financial risks. In our view, these secular growth opportunities are hard to access through indexation and therefore underrepresented in existing healthcare ETFs.”

Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are a chronic burden on patients and society and the leading cause of death globally[1]. Obesity, characterized by the CDC as “a common, serious, and costly chronic disease of adults and children”, is a key underlying condition of both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Nearly 80% of patients that have some form of coronary heart disease (CHD) are obese or overweight[2]. Obesity prevalence has been increasing at a dramatic pace with 42% of US adults classified as obese today[3].

Spend on cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death globally, is nearing $1 trillion per annum[4]. But we believe the biopharmaceutical industry is only in the early innings of realizing breakthrough medications for obesity. These innovations could ultimately revolutionize the treatment of patients with comorbid conditions like diabetes, heart disease, liver and other chronic illnesses afflictions. Leading the wave of obesity innovation are the GLP-1[5] agents such as Novo Nordic’s semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy). In addition, insights into human genetics, as well as tools like gene editing and gene therapy, have spurred a new generation of therapeutics in cardiovascular disease.

“As a result of the unmet need and the revolution in obesity treatments the landscape has exploded with new drugs, diagnostics and medical devices. This has created an ever-expanding investable ecosystem for metabolic and cardiovascular disease.” said David K. Song, HRTS portfolio manager. “The breakthrough in obesity therapeutics leads us to believe that there could be significant growth given the large patient pool and currently low penetration rates. We believe, given that there are over 100 million US citizens with obesity[6], even assuming some discount in current prices, the total addressable market in the US alone could be well over $100 billion per annum.[7] We believe the fight against the metabolic epidemic is having its watershed moment, creating a new pool of investment opportunities on compelling valuations, requiring expertise and diligent risk management to navigate.”

For more information about HRTS or other offerings, please visit www.temaetfs.com.

Endnotes

[1] Our world in data, 2019.

[2] Prev Med. 2017 Nov; 104: 117–119, “Obesity in Coronary Heart Disease: An Unaddressed Behavioral Risk Factor”, Philip A. Ades, MD and Patrick D. Savage, MS.

[3] CDC; Prevalence of Self-Reported Obesity Among U.S. Adults by State and Territory, BRFSS, 2011 and 2021.

[4] LHS - World Economic Forum and the Harvard School of Public Health. “The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases”, 2011. Bloom, D.E., Cafiero, E.T., Jané-Llopis, E., Abrahams-Gessel, S., Bloom, L.R., Fathima, S., Feigl, A.B., Gaziano, T., Mowafi, M., Pandya, A., Prettner, K., Rosenberg, L., Seligman, B., Stein, A.Z., & Weinstein, C. (2011).

[5] GLP-1: Glucagon-like peptide 1 is a hormone produced in the gut and released in response to food. It causes reduced appetite and the release of insulin.

[6] CDC, 2023.

[7] IQVIA Forecast Link, May 2023. Forecasts are inherently limited and should not be relied upon when making investment decisions. There is no guarantee projected growth will occur.

Risk Information  

Carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risk factors, charges and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus or summary prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting www.temaetfs.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing

Important Risks

Investing involves risk including possible loss of principal. There is no guarantee the adviser’s investment strategy will be successful.

Industry Concentration Risk: Because the Fund's assets will be concentrated in an industry or group of industries, the Fund is subject to loss due to adverse occurrences that may affect that industry or group of industries.

Biotechnology Industry Risk: The biotechnology industry can be significantly affected by patent considerations, including the termination of patent protections for products, intense competition both domestically and internationally, rapid technological change and obsolescence, government regulation and expensive insurance costs due to the risk of product liability lawsuits. In addition, the biotechnology industry is an emerging growth industry, and therefore biotechnology companies may be thinly capitalized and more volatile than companies with greater capitalizations.

Sector Focus Risk: Obesity and Cardiology companies are highly dependent on the development, procurement and marketing of drugs and the protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights. A company’s valuation can also be greatly affected if one of its products is proven or alleged to be unsafe, ineffective or unprofitable. The stock prices of Obesity and Cardiology companies have been and will likely continue to be very volatile. The costs associated with developing new drugs can be significant, and the results are unpredictable. Newly developed drugs may be susceptible to product obsolescence due to intense competition from new products and less costly generic products. Moreover, the process for obtaining regulatory approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other governmental regulatory authorities is long and costly and there can be no assurance that the necessary approvals will be obtained or maintained. Companies in the medical equipment industry group may be affected by the expiration of patents, litigation based on product liability, industry competition, product obsolescence and regulatory approvals, among other factors.

Investing in foreign and emerging markets involves risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments. In addition, the fund is exposed to currency risk.

Tema Global Limited serves as the investment adviser to Tema Cardiovascular and Metabolic ETF (the “Fund”), and NEOS Investments, LLC serves as a sub adviser to the Fund. The Fund is distributed by Foreside Fund Services LLC, which is not affiliated with Tema Global Limited nor NEOS Investments, LLC. Check the background of Foreside on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.

For inquiries: info@temaetfs.com