Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash
I am sometimes asked: Why do you invest in health and happiness? Why not just invest in health, or even health care, which is where other funds focus and where the impact of science is obvious?
We believe language has power. Subtle differences in the question asked can produce profound differences in the answer received.
What would we be communicating if we said we focus on health care? We’d be saying that we believe the current model of health—presumption of illness as the trigger, chemical/physical treatment as the response, crisis as the mode—is the natural framework for the future and the natural approach to creating long-term value through investment.
Instead, we believe the current remarkable range of transformation across bioscience, microbiome, neuroscience, genetics, food science, and more will dig out the root causes of many illnesses and stop them before they start. These transformations will impel care away from intervention and toward prevention. They will upend the presumption of rehab and sufficiency to one of maximum potential maintenance.
Thus, we are a health fund, not a health care fund.
But why not leave it there? Why add in happiness?
We think that health represents the most remarkable, diverse worldwide investment market we have seen in decades. Look at it!
Each of these areas is undergoing deep change. Each touches a core experience of the human organism. Live better and longer. Repair genetic anomalies. Track the mind. Increase our stamina, libido and capacity to perform. From fingertips to forehead, each part of our bodies can be strengthened, protected, improved, lifted to its best expression.
But let’s shift mode.
Each and every one of these areas also delivers or contributes to individual happiness. The joy of new experiences. The pleasure of keeping our loved ones whole and near us longer. The satisfaction of good and healthy food. The release of sexual love. The confidence that comes from feeling desired and beautiful. The excitement of peak performance. The calm of introspection.
The same factors that are changing the world of health are opening new paths toward happiness. And happiness, in our view, is the ultimate goal. Why do people want to be healthy? So they can exist for as long as possible, enjoying fully the miracle of being alive.
When we view investing from this perspective, it feels much more than a utilitarian hunt for monetary value. Investing in this way makes us, well, happy.
By Managing Partner Mike Edelhart
@MikeEdelhart