HQL - abrdn Life Sciences Investors

What this means for you

One large investor owns more than 5% of this fund but has told the regulator it is not seeking changes. That is common for banks, brokers and index funds that hold shares for their clients.

Nothing is required of you. If an investor changes its mind, it must file a new notice within days, and it will show up here.

Email me if this changes

What happened, and when

1. Oct 14, 2026

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. raised its stake to 11.3% (from 10.1%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

2. March 6, 2026

   First Trust Portfolios L.P. raised its stake to 10.1% (from 6.3%), as a passive investor.

   Original document →

3. Feb 23, 2026

   Saba sold down below 5% and stopped reporting.

   Original document →

4. Feb 11, 2026

   Saba cut its stake to 5.7% (from 6.8%). It has said it may push for changes.

   Original document →

5. Jan 8, 2026

   Saba cut its stake to 6.8% (from 7.9%). It has said it may push for changes.

   Original document →

About this fund

• Run by abrdn Inc. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
• Size: about $689 million of holdings, as of June 30, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Borrowing: the fund does not borrow. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Costs: 1.1% a year in management fees; 1.2% a year in total, including interest on borrowed money. Fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
  Among the 7 funds we follow that invest in healthcare companies, 2 charge a lower management fee and 2 charge less in total, at their last yearly reports. Both numbers are measured against the fund's own money, not the money it borrows on top, so a fund that borrows more shows higher costs on both counts.
• Payouts: last fiscal year (ended Sept 30, 2025) the fund paid $1.82 a share. $1.72 of that was income; $0.10 came from gains. Most funds announce their monthly or quarterly payout on their own website, not in a filing with the regulator, so a cut or a raise there does not show up here until the next yearly report. A few funds do file a notice about a fixed payout; those appear under What happened, and when. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Value of holdings per share at the last fiscal year end (Sept 30, 2025): $17.35. The shares traded at $15.51, about 10.6% below that. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's yearly report. Original document →
• How the holdings did: up 26.8% over the last three months we have (April-June 2026), before the share price is taken into account. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• First reported to the regulator in 1995.

How this has changed

• Payouts per share: $1.82 in the fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025; $1.66 in the year ended Sept 30, 2024; $1.28 in the year ended Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Of that, your own money back rather than income: none in the year ended Sept 30, 2025; $0.21 in the year ended Sept 30, 2024; none in the year ended Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Costs, including interest on borrowed money: 1.24% a year in the fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025; 1.36% a year in the year ended Sept 30, 2024; 1.35% a year in the year ended Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Size of the holdings: about $513 million at Sept 30, 2025; $460 million at Sept 30, 2024; $402 million at Sept 30, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Sept 30, 2025 →, Sept 30, 2024 →, Sept 30, 2023 →.
• Borrowing: none at Sept 30, 2025; none at Sept 30, 2024; none at Sept 30, 2023. From the fund's quarterly holdings reports. Original documents: Sept 30, 2025 →, Sept 30, 2024 →, Sept 30, 2023 →.
• The fund had about 29.6 million shares at Sept 30, 2025, up 10.5% from Sept 30, 2023.As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →

What these lines mean: a payout that is your own money back, what a fund costs, borrowing.

What a holder made

• The year ended Sept 30, 2025: the shares returned +17.6%, counting payouts; the holdings +21.1%. The holdings figure is what the fund's investments earned, before the share price is taken into account. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Sept 30, 2024: the shares returned +35.9%, counting payouts; the holdings +22.8%. As of Sept 30, 2024, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Sept 30, 2023: the shares returned +0.2%, counting payouts; the holdings +6.3%. As of Sept 30, 2023, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Sept 30, 2022: the shares returned -28%, counting payouts; the holdings -19.9%. As of Sept 30, 2022, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The year ended Sept 30, 2021: the shares returned +28.3%, counting payouts; the holdings +13.7%. As of Sept 30, 2021, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• Those five years together: the shares returned +48.1%. $10,000 of shares bought at the start (Oct 1, 2020) would have become about $14,800 by Sept 30, 2025, with every payout counted, before tax. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• The holdings over the last twelve months we have, to June 30, 2026: +76.7%. The quarterly reports carry no share price, so this is the holdings alone. As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →
• Of the 7 funds that invest in healthcare companies with a fiscal year ending within six months of this one, 2 reported a higher share return for that year and 4 a lower one. As of Sept 30, 2025, from the fund's annual report. Original document →
• A past year says nothing about the next one. All figures are the fund's own, from its reports to the regulator.

Why the shares and the holdings can differ: the gap between price and value. Why payouts count: a payout that is your own money back.

What the fund holds

Mostly shares (89%), the rest preferred shares, derivatives and cash and short-term holdings. About 82% issued in the U.S.

The fund also sells options on its holdings to raise income.

1. VeraDermics - 5%
2. uniQure NV - 3.8%
3. Insmed - 3.2%
4. Personalis - 3%
5. Derivatives - 2.7%
6. Argenx SE - 2.6%
7. Dyne Therapeutics - 2.6%
8. Denali Therapeutics - 2.5%
9. Abivax SA - 1.9%
10. Immunovant - 1.9%

As of June 30, 2026, from the fund's quarterly holdings report. Original document →