Obama reforms bring Atkinson back to health

Aberdeen's Paul Atkinson is buying back into US healthcare stocks following the announcement of President Obama's insurance reforms.

Deputy head of US equities Atkinson, who manages the £127.5m American Equity fund, says the ongoing debate over the way medical treatment is paid has allowed him to use weaknesses in company valuations to pick up strong brands cheaply. Atkinson has used the uncertainty to increase exposure to the sector, with stocks including Gilead Sciences and Baxter International rising from 1.5% to 2.9% and 2.6% becoming two of the biggest names in the portfolio. “At times last year, the sector was at 20-year valuation lows prefaced by the whole healthcare reform debate,” Atkinson says. “The un...