FidelityConnects

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

Portfolio manager of Fidelity True North® Fund, Max Lemieux, joins us again today for a discussion on Canadian equities. Max shares that we’re in an exciting time for active managers, and he’s seeing a renewal of the Canadian marketplace after seeing it shrink for several years. Max further explains how he is finding opportunities across various sectors, how inflation is playing into his investment approach, how he manages risk, and his thoughts on the Canadian dollar.

Recorded on November 18, 2021.

Aujourd’hui, notre invité est Maxime Lemieux, gestionnaire du Fonds Fidelity Frontière Nord, qui analyse le marché canadien et nous présente sa stratégie de répartition et ses perspectives actuelles. Lors de cette discussion avec l’animateur Charles Danis, il partage ses opinions sur les mouvements du marché au cours des derniers mois et parle des changements qu’il a apportés à son portefeuille. M. Lemieux a notamment liquidé certaines positions plus spéculatives au profit de titres de qualité à plus grande capitalisation. Les secteurs de l’énergie, des services financiers et des technologies au Canada font également partie des sujets abordés. Finalement, le gestionnaire aborde les facteurs qui ont contribué à son succès au cours des vingt dernières années, notamment une judicieuse sélection des titres, mais aussi les connaissances, l’expérience et l’excellence de l’équipe de recherche de Fidelity.

Date : 17 novembre 2021

Jeff Moore, fixed income portfolio manager, is back for his monthly perspectives on the fixed income environment. Jeff manages, co-manages, or manages the fixed-income sleeve of many Fidelity Canada funds, including Fidelity Multi-Sector Bond Fund and Investment Grade Total Bond Fund. Today Jeff dives into inflation, what’s next from central banks, crypto, and currencies. Jeff also reminds us about his 5-step process, comments on his team’s multi-sector approach to fixed income investing, and explores why they are liking the “BB” area right now.

Recorded on November 17, 2021.

Portfolio manager Dan Dupont is back on the show today to provide his thoughts on the markets throughout 2021 and looking ahead at 2022. Dan invests with a large focus on downside risk mitigation, and for Canadian investors he manages Fidelity Canadian Large Cap Fund, and co-manages Fidelity NorthStar® Fund, among other offerings. Dan shares his views on valuations, inflation, and the uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy. With this uncertainty, Dan reminds us that investors need to remain extremely vigilant. Dan also speaks on mining, the Canadian dollar, as well as investing in oil and gas, and areas of ESG. Dan comments we’ve seen positive ESG stories in some areas, but they are highly priced and we’re seeing some minor and some major bubbles in other areas of ESG.

Recorded on November 16, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_webcast_fidelityconnects_dupont_16nov.pdf

Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro, joins us again for his global macro and markets update. Inflation continues to be a main focus right now, with Jurrien sharing inflation expectations have now made a new high at 2.7%. He jokes that people are debating whether that it too high or too low, but the fact is inflation is rising. Jurrien has a few charts for his deep dive on inflation, visit @TimmerFidelity on Twitter to follow along. Today Jurrien also looks at the U.S. supply chain issues and if it matters to the markets, as well as energy, crypto, and gold.

Recorded on November 15, 2021.

Portfolio manager of Fidelity Europe Fund, Matt Siddle, joins the show today. Matt speaks with host Pamela Ritchie about the current inflationary pressures, noting the inflation environment differs between countries. The U.S. has greater inflationary pressures than European countries. He also looks at these pressures coming from two sources – commodities and labour markets. Matt speaks on how the recent increase in COVID cases have been impacting continental Europe and the UK and if there is an effect on markets. He also shares his thoughts on real estate in China, ESG and COP26, as well as the recent earnings season, and his criteria for how companies make it into his portfolio. His fund is traditionally a concentrated portfolio of around 60 names.

Recorded on November 12, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_siddle_12nov.pdf

Today we are joined by Matt Egerton, analyst and portfolio manager, and Andrew Hall, equity research associate, to talk about opportunities in ESG and renewables. Andrew says that there has been a great level of awareness and commitment to renewable goals of late. Also, recognition that solar technologies are more economically competitive with traditional fossil fuels than ever before. Matt says that it is about understanding where the opportunities are, and being diversified with the approach, instead of just following the “hot areas” in ESG. When discussing whether ESG is inflationary, Matt says that ESG has seen elements of inflation which is a reminder of the challenges in the transition. However, there has not been much pushback and everyone is on board, however, it will differ from country to country. Lastly, when asked about whether certain industries should be excluded from investment portfolios that may have exploitive practices, Matt says that Fidelity has taken an engagement rather than exclusion approach to this. Bringing companies closer, having robust conversations and having that partnership approach is what Matt believes will help us get to where we need to be in the end.

Recorded on November 10, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_egerton_hall_10nov.pdf

Portfolio manager of Fidelity Founders® Class, Dan Kelley, joins the show today. The fund was launched in Canada in April 2018 and is focused on harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit of founder-led companies, through small-, medium- and large-cap companies, as well as private offerings. Dan shares how founder-led companies have excelled in the past couple of years, why their eccentric nature works, and how innovative companies have gotten us through the pandemic; they have rolled out new vaccines in a matter of months, improved our cloud and software technology to adapt to the home office life and more. He reflects on founders’ personality types, tending to be eccentric risk-takers. With the right underlying skillset and vision, Dan believes embracing the founders’ unique nature brings their companies to new heights and scales. He also discusses ESG and its growth potential, recognizing that more and more companies are becoming committed to reducing their carbon footprint. He believes that going forward, we will witness a huge shift in emissions, as energy sectors can be both powerful and committed to ESG.

Recorded on November 9, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_kelley_9nov.pdf