Sam Isaly
Managing Partner and Founder of Exome Asset Management
Experienced healthcare fund manager active in global healthcare investing and analysis for over 45 years.
Over the Course of His Career
Sam has been a pharmaceutical analyst with Chase Manhattan Bank, Merrill Lynch, Legg Mason, and S. G. Warburg & Co.
In 1989, Sam Launched Orbimed Advisors LLC
Sam was the Portfolio Manager of Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC for 22 years.
Sam Received an A.B. in Economics From Princeton University
He also received a MSc (Economics) from The London School of Economics.
About
1954-1968
Sam Isaly was born in 1945 to Alice and Samuel Isaly, Sr. in Youngstown, Ohio.
Sam Isaly had a sister, Jo Ellen, who predeceased him, and has a brother, Forest. Sam grew up in Boardman, Ohio where he attended Market Street Elementary School and Boardman Glenwood Junior High School.
After high school, Sam attended Princeton University from 1964-1967 where he earned an A.B. in Economics and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1967, he was awarded the Percy Allan Ransome Sr. Prize in Economics and was a recipient of the Lieutenant John A. Larkin Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
He was a Fulbright Scholar (1967-1968) and attended The London School of Economics where he earned a MSc. in Economics.
1968-1998
Sam Isaly is one of the world’s most recognized healthcare fund managers and has been active in global healthcare investing since starting his career at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York in 1968 as a pharmaceutical analyst.
He also worked for Merrill Lynch, Legg Mason and S. G. Warburg & Co.
While at S. G. Warburg & Co., Sam met Viren Mehta. In 1989, the two formed Mehta and Isaly, a New York-based investment research firm, specializing in healthcare research, portfolio management and corporate consulting. Sam reconfigured the firm on January 1, 1998. At that time, Mehta and Isaly had approximately 50 research clients, and AUM of approximately $600 million.
1998-2017
In 1989, Sam Isaly launched OrbiMed Advisors LLC, an investment business firm, as Founder and Managing Member.
In 1993, Mehta and Isaly made its first venture capital investment in Cambridge Antibody Technology, based in Cambridge, U.K. In 2000, OrbiMed launched its first fully dedicated venture capital fund and in 2011, launched its first fully dedicated royalty/credit fund. During Sam’s tenure at OrbiMed, OrbiMed’s AUM grew from $600 million at inception to more than $15 billion and had three long/short funds, seven venture capital funds and two royalty/credit funds with over 100 employees and offices in four countries. Sam is now Chairman Emeritus of OrbiMed Advisors LLC.
During his time at Mehta and Isaly and OrbiMed, Sam was the Portfolio Manager of Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC from 1995 to December 2017, the top-performing investment trust in the United Kingdom over that time period, which saw annualized returns of 16% per year during his 22-year tenure. He was also the Portfolio Manager of Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences Fund from 1989 to 2017. Sam was also the Portfolio Manager to Pharma/Wealth based in Luxembourg from 1993 to ~2007.
2017-Present
Sam formed Exome Asset Management LLC in 2018. Exome has two long/short funds that invest across the healthcare industry and worldwide geographically. It has an AUM of over $198 million.
Sam consistently beat the S&P 500 for 25 consecutive years through 2015. He served as a member of the boards of directors for Worldwide Healthcare Trust Plc (1995-2017) and the Johnson Scholarship Foundation (2002-2010). In partnership with Princeton University, Sam founded the Samuel D. Isaly ’67 Fund for Discourse in Neuroscience at Princeton University. He also founded The Samuel D. Isaly Library with the Ohio Genealogical Society in Bellville, Ohio, in 2015.
Sam has three children and six grandchildren. He is an avid player of backgammon and follows Princeton basketball, Ohio State football and most high school athletics.
Recent Updates
August 2021
Exome Asset Management Shortlisted for Institutional Asset Management Award in Two Key Categories
June 2021
Exome China Biotech Paper
February 2017
How To Invest In New Era Of Healthcare
January 2016
4 Managers Who Consistently Beat the Market
September 2010
Scanning the Globe for Health-Care Stocks
October 2003