Palo Alto Investors LP

Palo Alto Investors, LLC is a hedge fund sponsor based out of Palo Alto, California. The company was originally established in 1989 by William L. Edwards, who is still with the company today acting as one of its analysts, as WL Edwards & Co. which is the predecessor firm to the current company. The company conducts its research internally with a team led by Ted Janus, utilizing “expertise, original insight, independent thinking and exhaustive research process to identify companies that we believe are best positioned to achieve superior long-term performance.” Palo Alto Investors focuses on discovering and evaluating inefficiently priced equities, focusing on health care companies that can offer extraordinary risk and reward characteristics. The company focuses in the micro and small cap companies and invests in the public equity markets within the United States. Palo Alto Investors currently invests almost exclusively in the health care sector, which alone makes up over 90% of its total asset allocations, and also invests in the consumer staples sector to a lesser degree. The company holds its allocations for 12.4 quarters on average although it holds its top 10 allocations, which make up almost three quarters of its total allocations, for just 6.7 quarters on average. In the most recent quarter, Palo Alto Investors had a turnover rate of approximately 18.6%. Palo Alto Investors manages over $1.9 billion in total assets under management spread across 20 total accounts, all of which are discretionary. Although the firm’s total number of accounts has been fluctuating in recent years, its total assets under management has been on an upwards trend despite slight volatility, growing from just over $1 billion back in 2010 to approaching twice that amount today. Palo Alto Investors currently caters exclusively to pooled investment vehicles and offers a variety of health care sector funds.