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Stewart Investors: Six Global Companies Advancing Health Beyond Pharma
Brown & Brown, Cintas, Haleon, Linde, Raia Drogasil and Veeva Systems are making access to health and hygiene more equitable.
EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 24, 2025 – While pharmaceutical drug pricing is making headlines amid President Trump’s proposal to benchmark U.S. retail drug costs to international standards, less attention is being paid to attractive, albeit less-glamorous investment areas in the global health ecosystem, according to Stewart Investors, a long-only active global equity specialist.
Stewart Investors, which manages US$16.5 billion in assets globally, has identified six companies, representing health-related businesses on three continents that are advancing health beyond pharmaceuticals. The companies – based in the U.S., the U.K. and Brazil – reflect Stewart Investors’ bottom-up investment process for seeking quality holdings that can generate long-term profitability and contribute meaningfully to sustainable development.
“The topic of health care, especially from an investor’s perspective, is often dominated by pharmaceuticals, but those companies represent only a fraction of the investable health-related universe,” said Clare Wood, portfolio specialist at Stewart Investors.
“Recent news from the U.S. has highlighted the importance of access, availability, and the price of medicines. However, health is also about prevention, accessibility, security and environmental impact. Health equity is often thought of in relation to low- and middle-income countries, but there is a lot of health inequity in developed countries as well. We have identified several companies whose businesses are essential to building sustainable, inclusive health systems.”
Stewart Investors believes the following six companies (in alphabetical order) are helping to build healthier societies while embracing sustainable practices and providing attractive returns to investors:
Brown & Brown: Brown & Brown (B&B), based in the U.S., is an insurance brokerage firm helping individuals, families and small/medium enterprises (SMEs) better handle costs associated with unforeseen events. B&B’s clients provide health insurance and other coverage that supports employee health and well-being, improves employee retention, and reduces risks to the employer.
B&B has been a Stewart Investors holding since January 2024. Its sales, free cash flow and earnings per share have increased at a compound annual rate of 15.1%1, 12.5%1 and 19.7%1 per year, respectively, over the five-year period ended Dec. 31, 2024.*
Cintas Corporation: Best known for corporate uniforms, U.S.-based Cintas is also a supplier of workplace hygiene and safety, providing cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, first aid supplies and fire safety products. Cintas helps a diverse customer base meet workplace health and safety standards and support employee well-being by reducing the spread of illness-causing germs. Cintas' rental business model applies the circular economy principles of reuse, reduce and recycle. It supplies, launders, repairs and returns clean uniforms and cleaning products to its clients. Its laundering service helps to extend the life of uniforms, reducing textile waste and offers a safer and more efficient alternative to home laundry, using approximately half the water and energy and about 16% less detergent compared with home laundering methods.
For the five-year period ended 31 May 2024, Cintas’ sales, free cash flow and earnings per share grew at a compound annual rate of 6.8%2, 16.1%2 and 13.7%2, respectively. It has been a Stewart Investors holding since January 2025.
Haleon: Based in the UK, Haleon is a global leader in consumer health, focused on providing oral health products, vitamins, minerals, supplements and over-the-counter medicine. Its brands include Sensodyne, Advil, Voltaren and Centrum. The company empowers individuals to take charge of their wellness, reducing strain on healthcare systems through prevention and self-care. Spun out of GSK in 2022, Haleon is the only company in the world focused purely on consumer health.3
A Stewart Investors holding since November 2024, Haleon’s sales, free cash flow and earnings per share increased at a compound annual rate of 5.8%4, 24.5%4 and 17.3%4, respectively, for the five-year period ended Dec. 31, 2024.*
Linde: Linde, based in the U.K., produces essential gases that are necessary inputs for a variety of end customers including the healthcare sector. Linde supports healthcare by supplying oxygen and cryogenic gases essential for surgery, intensive care unit care, and the storage and transport of vaccines and biologics. It also supplies oxygen to patients in hospitals and care homes.
A Stewart Investors holding since November 2023, Linde’s sales, free cash flow and earnings per share rose at a compound annual rate of 3.2%5, 14.5%5 and 26.6%5, respectively, for the five-year period ended Dec.31, 2024.*
Raia Drogasil: As Brazil’s largest retail pharmacy chain, Raia Drogasil has positioned itself as a front-line healthcare provider, widening access to medicine while reducing prices to end users through economies of scale. Its in-store services and growing digital footprint make basic health care more accessible and affordable.
A Stewart Investors holding since October 2014, the company has increased its sales, free cash flow and earnings per share at a compound annual rate of 17.2%6, 26.3%6 and 10%6 for the five-year period ended Dec. 31, 2024.*
Veeva Systems: A cloud-based software firm powering efficiency in clinical trials and drug development, U.S.-based Veeva Systems helps researchers collaborate securely and streamline data, accelerating the path from lab to treatment for pharmaceutical and life sciences industry applications. Veeva is a founder-run public benefit corporation (PBC) - a for-profit company that is legally required to consider both financial returns and a positive impact on society or the environment in its decisions.
A Stewart Investors holding since November 2019, Veeva Systems’ sales, free cash flow and earnings per share rose at a compound annual rate of 20%7, 19.8%7 and 17.8%7, respectively, for the five-year period ended Dec. 31, 2024.*
“Health is shaped not only by medicine, but also by infrastructure, access, prevention, and protection,” Wood said. “These six companies have demonstrated financial resilience and are a positive influence on global health.”
The six companies identified were gathered from the larger universe of approximately 200 holdings across Stewart Investors' emerging markets, regional and worldwide equity strategies.
Investors can find Stewart Investors’ holdings in its Portfolio Explorer tool, which details the investment team's approach, identifies the companies held in the firm's strategies, and explains how Stewart Investors believes these stocks are contributing to sustainable development. Launched in 2021, Portfolio Explorer was developed to help investors explore strategies, companies, countries and sustainability issues of interest in four views: map, human development pillars, climate solutions and sustainable development goals. Each of the four views contains relevant sub-categories.
Notes
*Most recent financial data available
1 Brown & Brown, Annual Report 2024
2 Cintas Corporation, Q2 FY24 Revenue and Earnings
3 https://www.haleon.com/who-we-are
4 Haleon Annual Report 2024
5 Linde Annual Report 2024
6 Raia Drogsail, Financial Statements 4Q24
7 Veeva Systems, 2024 Annual Report & Proxy Statement
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