HQL - Top Picks 2019- Tekla Life Sciences Investors HQL
For more conservative investors, my top income pick for the coming year is Tekla Life Sciences Investors (HQL), a closed-end fund, explains Nate Pile, editor of Nate's Notes and a specialist in healthcare and biotechnology stocks.
This closed-end fund invests in a variety of publicly traded and privately-held companies doing work in the life sciences sector. It was formerly known as The Hambrecht & Quist Life Sciences Fund – hence the “disconnect” between the ticker symbol and the fund’s name.
Though investors can probably get more bang for their buck owning individual biotech stocks, we believe HQL represents a great alternative for investors who want to be involved with the sector but would rather avoid some of the volatility that comes with investing in the space.
The fund has a policy of paying out 2% of its net assets quarterly, which makes for a very attractive “get paid while you wait” situation, and we encourage folks to take this payout in the form of additional stock (the default) rather than ask for cash.
Though its holdings naturally vary as time goes by, it often includes many of the individual names that we recommend. HQL is a strong buy under $14 and a buy under $18.