The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario Minister of Finance, is featured on this episode providing an economic and regulatory update. Within this episode, Minister Bethlenfalvy discusses Ontario’s debt levels and the plan to get back to a balanced budget. Minister Bethlenfalvy reflects upon Ontario’s environment and provides a variety of aspects that will be detrimental to getting back to a balanced budget. The housing sector was also discussed throughout the episode where the Minister provides his plan and approach to the situation. He also discusses a variety of constraints that are contributing to the overall problems in the housing sector. Finally, Minister Bethlenfalvy discusses the type of role that cryptocurrency might play in the future within Canada and Ontario specifically. He provides his thoughts about cryptocurrency and the attention that it has generated with the Government of Canada and Bank of Canada.

Recorded on November 25, 2021.

Today we welcome back Denise Chisholm, Director of Quantitative Market Strategy, who will be presenting another instalment of her sector watch – today with a focus on top sectors, trends and themes of 2021, and upcoming in 2022. In speaking with host Pamela Ritchie, Denise looks at the big inflation story and reflects on the recent announcements from the U.S. Federal Reserve, noting that when you provide consumers with income from government stimulus and wages, what you usually get are higher prices and those higher prices tend to be sticky. Denise studies historical patterns and historical probability to watch for future trends, and today she also dives into what might be ahead for markets and growth in 2022, as well as reflecting on the recent market volatility and spike in the VIX volatility index.

Recorded on December 2, 2021.

Today’s episode features Salim Hart, portfolio manager, and Naveed Rahman, institutional portfolio manager. For Canadian investors, Salim and Naveed work alongside legendary investor Joel Tillinghast on Fidelity Global Intrinsic Value Class, a fund that focuses on global companies that the portfolio managers believe to be undervalued by the market and have the potential for long-term capital appreciation. The episode discusses their thoughts on current market conditions, areas of the market they find attractive, where they believe the market cycle is affected by price and employment pressures, monetary policy, and that central banks are slightly less accommodating due to the potential for rising rates. The episode also discusses the transition of portfolio manager Joel Tillinghast, who will retire from investment management at the end of 2023, but will continue to work with the team as a senior advisor and remain engaged with Fidelity. The fund has welcomed portfolio managers Morgen Peck and Sam Chamovitz as co-mangers, and these four managers on Global Intrinsic Value have over 50 years of work experience with Joel. The transition will be consistent and gradual.

Recorded on December 1, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_webcast_hart_rahman_01dec.pdf

Portfolio manager of Fidelity Dividend Plus Fund, Don Newman, joins us today to share his outlook and view on opportunities in dividend investing for 2022. In addition to managing Fidelity Dividend Plus Fund, Don is a subportfolio manager for Fidelity Canadian Asset Allocation Fund, Fidelity Dividend Fund, Fidelity Income Allocation Fund, and Fidelity Monthly Income Fund. In this episode, Don discusses the concerns about rising inflation and the use of dividend-paying investments to protect investors’ purchasing power. As inflation rises, GIC products are no longer yielding as much interest and investors in GICs are losing purchasing power. Don addresses the dividend market shifts over the past few years as well as his outlook for the upcoming year in the material, financial, real estate, utilities, and consumer goods sectors. With rising inflation pressures on the market, dividend investing allows Canadians to have income coming in steadily and the opportunity to compound investments over time.

Recorded on November 30, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_newman_30nov.pdf

Fidelity’s Director of Global Macro, Jurrien Timmer, touches upon volatility, COVID-19 variants, inflation, and his market cycle outlook in this episode. Jurrien believes that on a short-term basis, the market is already oversold, also mentioning that he recognizes the recent spike in the volatility index (VIX), but believes that there is nothing in the VIX chart that indicates a drastic change. Jurrien shares that we won’t know if vaccines are effective against the Omicron variant for at least another few weeks. He also noted that the Delta wave increased hospitalizations in the U.S. from 2% to 14%, and did not lead to any significant lockdowns. He believes that if the Delta wave did not cause the economy to get locked down, it is unlikely that any other wave will, unless the vaccines are completely ineffective. In terms of inflation, Jurrien believes that it is going to take a lot more than what we saw on Friday November 26 to slow down the U.S. Federal Reserve, and that if the Omicron variant is a legitimate scare, in terms of slowing down economic growth, that might be enough to quell the inflation anxiety. Looking at the market cycle, Jurrien believes that this has been an earnings-driven bull market and that as long as that continues to be the case, every one of these scares is likely to be short lived because the fundamentals will take over. He also believes that we will continue to be in a bull market, albeit in a more mature mid-cycle phase over the next 6 to 12 months, meaning that earnings will continue to grow but at a slower pace.

Recorded on November 29, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_webcast_timmer_29nov.pdf

Himesh Patel, ETF strategist, joins the show today for a conversation with host Pamela Ritchie on equity ETFs, factor ETFs, and how Fidelity All-In-One ETFs are positioned as 2021 draws to a close, and we look ahead to next year. Himesh dives into the various factors, such as quality, value, and momentum – how they’ve performed this year and how they typically perform during the business cycle. Himesh also shares thoughts on how to best create a diversified portfolio in today’s market – one that protects on the downside when there is volatility, but also can participate in the up markets. Himesh touches on how Fidelity All-In-One ETFs compare to the Fidelity Managed Portfolios, sharing they are very different in strategy and can compliment each other in a personal portfolio. Himesh and Pamela also discuss the recent market volatility, with Himesh noting the markets are taking back the bullish nature we saw throughout October and November.

Recorded on November 26, 2021.

Ilan Kolet, Institutional Portfolio Manager, speaks about inflation, supply chain issues, the labour market, and Fidelity Inflation-Focused Fund in this episode. Commencing with inflation, when asked about sectors that were closed/affected by the pandemic, Ilan remarked that it should be unsurprising that we are seeing inflation in those sectors. He also notes that he and his team are seeing and recognizing what all of us are seeing in news headlines and in our day-to-day lives, adding that he is seeing prices move materially higher and not all of it being transitory. Furthermore, he notes that we have a tremendous increase in the prices of goods from a year ago, and that service inflation will dictate the path of underlying inflation over the medium term. Looking at supply chain issues, Ilan believes we shouldn’t expect supply chain issues to disappear so quickly as disruptions will take longer to normalize. He also adds that Fidelity analysts estimate that these disruptions will normalize in about 18-24 months. Ilan considers the labour market exceptionally tight. He believes the way to resolve the tightness is to increase wages. Ilan also anticipates by mid-2022 we should have clearer view of the labour market, wages, and underlying service inflation.

Recorded on November 24, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_kolet_24nov.pdf

Portfolio manager Patrice Quirion joins us today to share his outlook on global equities for the year 2022. Patrice manages Fidelity Global Concentrated Equity Fund, Fidelity Global Equity Private Pool, Fidelity International Concentrated Equity Fund, and Fidelity International Equity Private Pool. With 2021 coming to an end the market is expected to regain its foothold and economic growth is anticipated as the world moves past COVID slowdowns. With the expected economic growth, there are potential inflation consequences and rising interest rates which may result in some form of volatility in the market. Patrice discusses his positioning, and thoughts on interest rate increases, as well as how he will mitigate the risk placed on valuations. Patrice further discusses his outlook on future opportunities as the markets shift and shares that economic recovery may be a powerful earnings driver on the market. Global markets in Europe, the United Kingdom, China, India, Southeast Asia, and Russia are discussed, and Patrice shares his outlook on potential future positioning in these markets.

Recorded on November 23, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_quirion_23nov.pdf

The market faced many challenges in 2020, and global economies continue to adjust to changing markets. Ayesha Akbar, portfolio manager, examines growth among the bond market, China, Europe and USA to determine trends and opportunities when it comes to property markets, COVID impacts, technology, emerging markets, inflation and more. While China adopted the strategy of “never letting a good crisis go to waste” in 2020, their property market has been causing a decline in overall market performance. Ayesha touches on policy announcements that have taken place to relieve this issue. Contrarily, the bond market has been thriving due to China’s real estate struggles, and these trends look promising. Europe has been facing road bumps due to Brexit and COVID, but energy and cyclical stocks provide opportunities for returns and will be further studied for longevity. Current consumer trends in the US show high consumer spending that suggests continued growth - even with fear of inflation. Mass growth and inflation concerns will be closely followed and should better indicate long-term patterns in the coming months.

Recorded on November 19, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_fidelityconnects_akbar_19nov.pdf

Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity’s Director of Global Macro, shares his thoughts on recent global macro and business cycle trends as we close out November 2021. Jurrien discusses the conundrum that exists around low nominal yields despite higher expected inflation and a return to near-full capacity. He compares our current late-cycle position to that which we experienced in 2015/2016, and the potential to revert to a mid-cycle position in 2022 or follow the cycle into recession. He mentions the possibility of a cycle extension under more structural inflation conditions where real returns remain negative driving consumers and businesses to lever up and maximize purchasing power. Jurrien shares his thoughts on potential impacts to the U.S. dollar, inflation linked securities, commodities, and recent investment style trends. He also speaks about potential fiscal policy movements relating to corporate taxes and a potential buyback tax and how this could impact equities in the context of rising earnings, dividends and buybacks. Additionally, Jurrien discusses the potential for gold, silver & Bitcoin to benefit if inflation expectations remain high and real yields remain at their current negative levels.

Recorded on November 22, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_fidelityconnects_timmer_22nov.pdf