FidelityConnects

Dividend payments are up, and many companies that typically didn’t provide high dividend payouts are looking more attractive. Portfolio manager Ramona Persaud discusses dividend investing and areas of opportunity that investors should be aware of with host Emily Anonuevo. Ramona manages Fidelity U.S. Dividend Fund, Fidelity U.S. Dividend Private Pool, and several other mandates. Ramona shares some specific strategies behind Fidelity U.S. Dividend Fund. She says that her strategies are designed to achieve three goals: investment return, capital protection, and cash flow from the return stream. Additionally, Ramona says dividend investing acts as a volatility dampener as dividends are more predictable, stable, and consistent than price return. Ramona follows a wide range of market sectors, noting that valuations in the UK or Continental Europe and parts of Asia are interesting. She also notes that she owns travel stocks like airports in Asia and Europe.

Recorded on August 5, 2021.

The topic of rising inflation continues to dominate headlines as June's Consumer Price Index report recorded the largest year-over-year increase in over 13 years. On today’s podcast, host Pamela Ritchie is joined by Portfolio Manager David Tulk and Institutional Portfolio manager Ilan Kolet from Fidelity's Global Asset Allocation Team. David and Ilan discuss inflation and how investors can best protect their assets in an uncertain inflationary environment. David notes that purchasing assets that have a hedge against inflation risk can counteract liabilities that have some link to inflation. Ilan says that certain inflationary data will fall out at various points in time as they are temporary. He believes that increases in airfares and car rental prices, supply chain disruptions, and the labour market and service inflation will fade as we emerge from the pandemic. Ilan and David also discuss whether it is best to hedge for inflation or outperform it, noting that the asset classes that best hedge unexpected changes to the inflation rate are commodities, gold, oil, natural resource producing stocks.

Recorded on August 4, 2021.

UK-based Investment Director Tom Stevenson provides his views on the trends in the global markets and the areas of opportunity across different sectors. Tom says the services sector Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has been the best in 15 years. It measured at a 60, where 50 is the median line. Tom discusses strong earnings and the increase in dividend payments. He notes that sectors that are out of favour can be the ones with the best dividend rates, not necessarily ESG friendly sectors. Tom believes that people would enjoy these dividends but will steer towards renewables over the long term. Tom shares that for UK investors, there is an argument for investing domestically than in China. He says growth in the UK is cheaper, and government policy is more predictable. However, the challenge may be navigating Brexit. Tom also adds that there are two factors to consider regarding commodities: demand and supply. He notes that there is favourable balance for investors, but not so much consumers.

Recorded on August 4, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript-podcast-stevenson-live-from-london-08-04.pdf

Many countries worldwide have doled out billions of dollars in financial aid and stimulus to keep the economy afloat. Director of Global Macro, Jurrien Timmer, discusses possible scenarios that may occur as U.S. national debt is projected to increase. Jurrien says the Fed is forced into buying more and more debt to keep interest rates low, especially if those interest rates want to rise because of inflation. He notes that there may likely be a lot of supply coming in soon because of the American Jobs Act. This may lead to a trillion dollars of debt every year. Thus, the Fed would have to buy half of that debt and then in addition to that, buy some of the additional stock. Jurrien also adds although China owns a large portion of U.S. debt, he is unconcerned because the U.S. buys Chinese goods, and the proceeds are invested in U.S. treasuries. Follow along with Jurrien’s charts on Twitter: @TimmerFidelity.

Concerns about inflation, new variants, and a possible market correction loom over investors' optimism for the reopening. Fixed income portfolio manager, Sri Tella, joins us to discuss his outlook on the Canadian economy and the current positioning of the various funds he manages. For Canadian investors, Sri has portfolio manager or subportfolio manager responsibilities on 12 Fidelity Canada mutual funds, ETFs, and private pools – including Fidelity Canadian Bond Fund, Tactical Fixed Income Fund, and Canadian Balanced Fund. Sri believes that Canada is on pretty good footing as vaccination rates are high and there is growth in the global economy, which bodes well for Canada as it relies on exports. He notes that he is constructive on provincial bonds and thinks they look attractive from a valuation perspective. Additionally, Sri shares that in terms of positioning, he continues to like short corporate bonds and even lower quality bonds because the prospects for any defaults are extremely low. Sri also comments on housing in Canada and shares his thoughts on the Canadian dollar.

Recorded on July 28, 2021.

Institutional portfolio manager Tom Rollins discusses some events taking place in the second half of the year and provides an update on Fidelity U.S. Growth Opportunities Class, managed by Kyle Weaver. Tom says the release of second-quarter earnings will give investors insight into how companies are performing and what their expectations are for the rest of the year. He also finds it interesting to see how the market reacts to these reports. Tom notes that his team has been less bullish towards the Chinese tech market within the past year due to the regulatory environment and increased competition. He also goes over the three buckets that his team uses: aggressive growth, strong long-term growth, and slower top-line growth in more mature industries. Aggressive growth stocks are strong performers at the beginning of the cycle, long-term growers are established companies that continue to grow, and slow growth stocks are under-appreciated stocks. Additionally, Tom notes that to ensure the portfolio remains safe but still has access to growth, the team uses a combination of all three buckets in the portfolio.

Recorded on July 27, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_rollins_27july.pdf

All eyes are on central banks as investors eagerly await their policy response to different types of inflation. Institutional Portfolio Manager, Naveed Rahman, shares his thoughts on inflation and discusses some potential opportunities in the market. Naveed works alongside portfolio managers Joel Tillinghast and Salim Hart on Fidelity Global Intrinsic Value Class. Naveed believes that on the one hand, if inflation were to come to pass, cheaper companies' value stocks would all benefit disproportionately because large companies can pass through rising input costs. On the other hand, he is unsure if inflation is real as we may simply be seeing a year-over-year comparison that is very flattering for inflation. Naveed also shares his thoughts on wage inflation, noting that employees have a little more bargaining power as the pandemic has made them more flexible to work for different employees. Additionally, Naveed shares that he and his team are overweight financials, consumer credit stocks, and bank stocks as they are inexpensive relative to the market.

Following the recent dramatic one-day selloff, many investors are concerned about the possibility of a large market correction. Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro, joins us to discuss the recent style rotation and possible counter-rotation, and his thoughts on the monetary policy and inflation debate. While the market is relatively calm, things are still moving quickly as the S&P 500 keeps climbing to new all-time highs each week. Jurrien sees lots of movement through the style boxes. He says value and small caps lead in the early cycle phase, but now that we’re in the earnings phase, growth has taken the lead. Jurrien believes that rates should be higher, but the Fed has kept rates lower. With higher rates, growth should be depleting, and value should outperform, but we see the opposite. Jurrien also believes that inflation will be transitory and that the rate of change will decrease, but the question is how much it will actually decrease. Follow along with Jurrien’s charts on Twitter: @TimmerFidelity.

Recorded on July 26, 2021.

Eileen Dibb, portfolio manager of Fidelity AsiaStar® Fund and Fidelity Japan Fund, shares her insights on the Asia Pacific region and discusses how she is positioned. Now that things look a bit more normal, especially with the progressive vaccination rollout in Canada and the U.S., Eileen’s focus is on looking for balance. In contrast, Eileen says most Asian countries are in need of vaccines. However, she notes that the focus is not only on the vaccination program but also on reopening economies and other criteria such as border controls. Eileen shares that she has been investing in many Japanese companies that are household names, consistently reinventing themselves, and have exposure to the U.S. and global aspects of trade. She also mentions that she is more skewed toward developed markets in Asia and tends to be overweight in a few North Asian countries.

Recorded on July 23, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript-podcast-dibb-23-july-2021.pdf

Sector strategist, Denise Chisholm, is back on the program to share her perspectives on the sectors to watch in global markets. Denise shares that a unique opportunity exists in the energy sector, as a structural change in fundamentals has occurred between the last cycle and this cycle. This has now boosted Free Cash Flow significantly, and for the first time in 40 years, energy companies made money in terms of Free Cash Flow. Denise shares that since growth is a critical driver of currency, she suspects that the depreciation of the U.S. Dollar over the past 6-9 months is over. She doesn’t believe the dollar will be much of a headwind on the energy sector. Denise also shares her thoughts on the real estate sector, noting that she is unimpressed with the risk-reward trade off for this sector. She considers REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) to behave like cyclicals which become cheap at the end of the cycle, but they are currently expensive.

Recorded on July 22, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_denise_chisholm_22july.pdf