The topic of inflation continues to dominate headlines and that’s the topic of today’s show. David Wolf, portfolio manager and former policy advisor to the Governor of the Bank of Canada, shares his outlook on inflation, monetary policy, and the investment implications for global asset allocation. David shares that protecting against inflation in a thoughtful way isn’t easy to do, and he believes that the current inflation situation is a lot less transitory than people think and the Central Bank may want. He also shares it’s global, and that Canada is not alone, noting the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decisions have more ripple effects globally. Host Pamela Ritchie poses the question what can the consumer handle right now and how should investors be thinking when it comes to savings in their bank accounts with rising inflation. David also explains the strategy behind the new Fidelity Inflation Focused Fund, launched in September. The fund aims to invest in securities collectively resilient to inflation, an optimized balance between various inflation-focused asset classes in a single strategy.

Recorded on October 20, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript-podcast-wolf-oct20.pdf

In this episode of the Fidelity ETF Exchange - powered by FidelityConnects, co-hosts Étienne Joncas Bouchard and Himesh Patel sit down to recap notable trends and headlines in the Canadian ETF Industry for the third quarter of 2021. With the first nine months of the year behind us, the Canadian ETF industry has brought in a record $39B in net new assets (new calendar year record). Key topics of discussion today include the return of positive flows for fixed-income ETFs, continued growth for multi-asset ETFs, as well as a conversation on investment factor performance, and an outlook for the end of 2021.

Recorded on October 19, 2021.

Portfolio manager of Fidelity True North® Fund, Max Lemieux, joins us today for a discussion focusing on Canadian equities and where he is seeing opportunities as he looks ahead to 2022. We last heard from Max earlier this year, and host Pamela Ritchie gets Max’s thoughts on the recent market action, and adjustments he’s made to his portfolio. Some of those adjustments Max explains were removing some speculative positions and adding more quality and large cap names. Max reflects on the energy, financial and technology sectors in Canada, also sharing he typically likes to keep exposure to a single sector under 25% but is keeping an eye on financials specifically to move more tactically within that sector. When asked what has been a leading contributor to his success throughout 20 years of investing, Max believes it comes down to smart stock picking, and highlights the benefit of knowledge, experience, and the quality of Fidelity’s research team being extremely helpful.

Recorded on October 19, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_lemieux_19oct.pdf

Catherine Yeung, Investment Director at Fidelity International, joins FidelityConnects again today. Catherine, who is based in Hong Kong, weighs in on developments in China, unpacks recent regulatory and policy changes and offers her thoughts on what investors need to know about investing in this current environment. Catherine provides an update on COVID restrictions in Hong Kong, sharing she has been back in the office quite a bit, cases are low, but borders remain closed and quarantine restrictions remain strict. Catherine also discusses investing opportunities in Asia, and how investors in North America should view investing in China. Catherine shares that Fidelity China Fund manager Jing Ning’s style is to consider policy change. Catherine notes that China remains an investable space with an understanding of the policy cycle, not being swept up in the policy-news headwinds, as well as having access to companies in the country. Among other topics, Catherine discusses inflation, energy, geopolitics, the upcoming Beijing Olympics, as well as the Evergrande developments and property in China. Catherine notes that property remains the backbone of the Chinese economy.

Recorded on October 15, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_yeung_15oct.pdf

Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro, joins us again today for his weekly look at the markets. Jurrien unpacks the story behind commodities having done well since March 2020, noting a similar story after the Spanish flu in the 1920’s. He also analyzes future expectations for inflation and U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes. When debating if inflation is transitory or structural, Jurrien believes it’s a bit of both. Transitory because base effects wear off, cycle progresses, bottlenecks in supply chain become resolved. But also structural, with demographics as a structural driver of inflation. Jurrien shares people are quitting their jobs in the U.S. with the quit rate at 4.2 million in the U.S. People doing that because they think they can get a better job at a higher wage. Visit @TimmerFidelity on Twitter to follow along with Jurrien’s charts.

Recorded on October 18, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_timmer_18oct.pdf

David Wolf and David Tulk, portfolio managers on Fidelity’s Global Asset Allocation Team are featured today for an update on the investment approach behind the several funds managed by the GAA team, including the Fidelity Managed Portfolios suite. David Wolf explains that a mixture of a strategic benchmark, individual security selection, and active asset allocation have meaningfully added to performance of Fidelity Managed Portfolios in the past. David Tulk reflects on where we are in the economy, what they’re seeing from Central Banks in North America and globally, and some thoughts on currency. Inflation continues to be a big story, and David Wolf introduces the strategy behind the new Fidelity Inflation Focused Fund, launched in September. The fund aims to invest in securities collectively resilient to inflation, an optimized balance between various inflation-focused asset classes in a single strategy. David shares this includes commodity equites that tend to go up with commodity prices for example, as well as global real estate equities and inflation linked bonds, among others. Also, David Wolf will be back soon for an episode solely focusing on inflation.

Recorded on September 29, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_access2021_tulk_wolf.pdf

Denise Chisholm, Director of Quantitative Market Strategy is back for another instalment of her sector watch. A reoccurring series sharing Denises’s perspectives on sectors and factors making headlines. Denise begins today’s show looking at energy. She notes energy impacts every consumer and every producer. Additionally, Denise believes we may have a long runway to higher crude oil prices rising before investors reach a tipping point reacting to these higher prices. Denise also looks at oil and gas, and possible global risks and supply shortages. Host Pamela Ritchie also asks Denise about technology and that sector goes in a rising rate environment. They also discuss financials and capital markets, gold, using disruption in a portfolio, and the ever popular topic of inflation.

Recorded on October 14, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_chisholm_oct14.pdf

Fixed income portfolio manager Jeff Moore is back for his monthly perspectives on the fixed income environment. Jeff looks at impending tapering from the U.S. Federal Reserve, rate hikes and the yield curve. Jeff also comments that transitory inflation is now embedded in expectations, and he believes the Fed is keeping their eye on changing expectations. Jeff manages, co-manages, or manages the fixed income sleeve of many Fidelity Canada funds, and he shares with host Pamela Ritchie how he and his team have diversified as much as possible to benefit from the multi-sector environment. This includes looking at emerging markets for opportunities and staying aware of how U.S. rate hikes could effect emerging markets countries.

Recorded on October 13, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_moore_13oct.pdf

Today we shine a light on balancing income and risk in fixed income investing with Adam Kramer, portfolio manager, and Scott Mensi, institutional portfolio manager. Adam and Scott share that Fidelity Tactical High Income Fund offers a flexible mandate with a full spectrum of income producing asset classes, aiming to provide a consistent yield for investors, and a cushion during periods of market volatility. Adam believes it’s the markets tendency to misprice risk, which makes it beneficial to offer a broad range of asset classes in the fund. He explains if you’re in an asset class that has too much bad news, and that bad news doesn’t happen, that is where you make money, and that is where the fund is trying to be. In addition to their investment approach, Adam and Scott also share their current market perspectives, and outlook for 2022. Scott adds that it’s beneficial to maintain a long-term approach.

Recorded on September 29, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_access2021_kramer_mensi.pdf

Portfolio manager Mark Schmehl is back to discuss positive change investing, and how he uncovers opportunities in Canada, the U.S., and abroad. For Canadian investors, Mark runs Fidelity Canadian Growth Company Fund, Fidelity Special Situations Fund, and Fidelity Global Innovators Class. In speaking with host Pat Bolland, Mark shares how his portfolios are currently positioned, noting he is more heavily focused in companies that haven’t done that well and are starting to get better. Mark has repositioned with purchasing cheap resources and cyclicals, and reminds us he plays in the tails of the market, where things are changing the most. Mark comments he is paying attention to the software sector and the metaverse theme. He also shares his thoughts on biotech, electric vehicles, bitcoin and crypto, and the Fidelity research resources.

Recorded on September 29, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_access2021_schmehl.pdf