Tools outperformed in 2021 as investors were willing to pay a premium for resiliency, growth and (of course) COVID upside. Core tools outperformed expectations again this year, given high-growth and resiliency to pandemic disruptions relative to other parts of healthcare, with ongoing COVID tailwinds  also providing support. Looking closer, growth in core tools was driven by rebounds across all end markets from COVID-lows in 2020, paired with substantial growth in biopharma driven by COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics, but also underlying market trends. Cyclical names (A, MTD, PKI, WAT) continue to trade at high valuations relative to more diversified players (TMO, DHR and AVTR) and overall, the Life Science Tools Index outperformed the broader market (+32.8%), beating the SPX (+24.4%) and significantly outperforming the XLV (+22.4%).