Investing in a European summer
This article first appeared in Professional Adviser on 12 August 2024 It has been the worst of Br...
Novo Nordisk, a leading global healthcare company, now has a market capitalisation that is bigger than the GDP of its home country Denmark. Mark Nichols, co-manager of the Jupiter European fund, tells us how the company has remained so successful for so many years, and answers the question “can a company get too big?”.
Watch the full interview with Mark Nichols highlighting the opportunities in Europe today
Mark Nichols: I think, with Novo [Nordisk], if we have to distill down quite a complex company with quite complex products into a simple answer of why they’ve been successful, it’s been focus. They’ve been in existence for about a hundred years now, and through the entire life of that company, it’s been completely focused on delivering better outcomes for its customers. And in their case, that means helping patients have a better quality of life; treating diabetics; extending that treatment into people who struggle with obesity; people with cardiovascular problems. Novo Nordisk is saving lives and making lives better. And that unique focus has, I think, been the key building block of the success for the equity.
Can it be too big? Let’s remember that Novo Nordisk’s market cap is about a sixth of that, of Apple today. So, maybe a company can be too big, but we don’t think they’re anywhere near that problem yet.