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Collins Stewart now has 3 per cent in healthcare in International Growth fund and 2 per cent in its International Balanced portfolio.

Mark Piper, co-manager of the funds, said the multi-manager team was looking for safe returns to combat volatile markets and an economic slowdown.

"With an aging global population, as baby boomers retire and longer life spans, increased demand for healthcare creates what we see as an interesting investment opportunity."

He said healthcare shares looked cheap after a long period of underperformance and had experienced more upward earnings revisions than other sectors.

"The current state of the markets reminds us that there are two key challenges the world has to face. There is a poor world that needs commodities and consumer goods, and a rich but demographically challenged world that needs better drugs and healthcare for its aging populations. Is the market starting to move away from one challenge and starting to focus on the other?"

Mr Piper said if healthcare was at the forefront of the next bull market, the chief beneficiaries would be three developed world countries - the US, Japan and Switzerland - followed by the UK, France and possibly Germany. "Furthermore, the healthcare space is less crowded and less dependent on one factor, namely Chinese growth and policy making."

Neil Darke, head of Collins Stewart Wealth Management, added: "This is something of a unique call and follows our successful US relative value call some months ago and follows on the back of our disinvestments from gold bullion in April."

Currently, the Collins Stewart International Balanced fund holds 59 per cent in equities, while the International Growth fund has 81 per cent in the asset class. Top 10 equity market holdings in both funds include the Findlay Park American Smaller Companies, £86.9m Gartmore US Growth, £484.4m M&G Select and £988.2m Jupiter UK Growth portfolios.