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Financials have stayed in great shape throughout the pandemic. Portfolio manager of the Fidelity Global Financial Services Fund, Sotiris Boutsis, speaks with host Pamela Ritchie about why investors might want to consider financial services in their portfolios. The Federal Reserve’s policy has shifted to an outcome-oriented policy which has affected financials positively. He notes that real rates are negative right now versus very positive over the last ten years. Sotiris also shares his thoughts on the Fed’s inflation target. He says there is a need to be monitoring inflation expectations stating that if the 5-year rate is falling more and more, the Fed could react with additional action. Additionally, Sotiris discusses his fund positioning. He is playing to secular themes, such as retirement and payments, and on the cyclical side, he is moving to good quality companies with decent growth.

Recorded on June 23, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript-podcast-boutsis-next-for-financial-services.pdf

More economies around the world are beginning to reopen, and consumers and corporations are not necessarily returning to their normal ways prior to the pandemic. Portfolio manager Patrice Quirion joins us to discuss his insights into potential new investment opportunities and risks that investors should watch for as this "new normal" begins. Patrice, who manages the Fidelity Global Concentrated Equity Fund and Fidelity International Concentrated Equity Fund, says he looks for good-quality companies trading at a compelling price. He notes that global small-mid cap companies represent a big part of the job and believe they add value.  Additionally, Patrice adds that he tends to avoid hyped-up stocks because once a trend is established, odds are the stocks are overvalued. 

More economies around the world are beginning to reopen, and consumers and corporations are not necessarily returning to their normal ways prior to the pandemic. Portfolio manager Patrice Quirion joins us to discuss his insights into potential new investment opportunities and risks that investors should watch for as this "new normal" begins. Patrice, who manages the Fidelity Global Concentrated Equity Fund and Fidelity International Concentrated Equity Fund, says he looks for good-quality companies trading at a compelling price. He notes that global small-mid cap companies represent a big part of the job and believe they add value.  Additionally, Patrice adds that he tends to avoid hyped-up stocks because once a trend is established, odds are the stocks are overvalued. 

Portfolio manager of Fidelity's Founders Class Fund, Dan Kelley, discusses the evolution of his fund and provides insights on sectors he is interested in for the rest of 2021.  Founders Class stemmed from an idea over five years. With extensive research and support from the quantitative research team, Dan discovered that founder-led companies tended to be highly correlated with outperformance. Founders are large investors and owners of a business, so their interests are very aligned with shareholders.  He tries to find companies he believes can be the next large-cap or mega-cap when they are at the early stages of growth. He embraces more cyclical sectors and has shifted a little more to higher quality names from the higher beta names.

Recorded on June 22, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_dan_kelley_22june.pdf

Portfolio manager of Fidelity's Founders Class Fund, Dan Kelley, discusses the evolution of his fund and provides insights on sectors he is interested in for the rest of 2021.  Founders Class stemmed from an idea over five years. With extensive research and support from the quantitative research team, Dan discovered that founder-led companies tended to be highly correlated with outperformance. Founders are large investors and owners of a business, so their interests are very aligned with shareholders.  He tries to find companies he believes can be the next large-cap or mega-cap when they are at the early stages of growth. He embraces more cyclical sectors and has shifted a little more to higher quality names from the higher beta names.

Recorded on June 22, 2021.

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_dan_kelley_22june.pdf

As we head into the second half of 2021, Portfolio Manager David Tulk gives an overview on the strategy of the asset allocation team. He says it's all about providing diversification as we look into the rest of the year. David frames the discussion around three main global investment themes for the short, medium and long-term outlook.  In the short-term, the re-opening phase will continue to be strong. Pent-up consumer demand is bursting after a year-and-a-half of being locked down.  In the medium-term, risk of higher interest rates and governments continuing to provide extended stimulus will be themes to keep an eye on. Governments want to encourage more inclusive rates of economic growth relative to what we've seen in the past. But the question remains: how willing will central banks and governments be to let it ride out?  And in the long-term, we need to keep an eye out on government debt and spending.  The increase in debt levels has been entirely unprecedented.  As much as we think the economy is ready to spring back to life, maintaining that rate of growth over the next 20 to 30 years is probably a little bit too optimistic. 

Recorded on June 17, 2021. 

As we head into the second half of 2021, Portfolio Manager David Tulk gives an overview on the strategy of the asset allocation team. He says it's all about providing diversification as we look into the rest of the year. David frames the discussion around three main global investment themes for the short, medium and long-term outlook.  In the short-term, the re-opening phase will continue to be strong. Pent-up consumer demand is bursting after a year-and-a-half of being locked down.  In the medium-term, risk of higher interest rates and governments continuing to provide extended stimulus will be themes to keep an eye on. Governments want to encourage more inclusive rates of economic growth relative to what we've seen in the past. But the question remains: how willing will central banks and governments be to let it ride out?  And in the long-term, we need to keep an eye out on government debt and spending.  The increase in debt levels has been entirely unprecedented.  As much as we think the economy is ready to spring back to life, maintaining that rate of growth over the next 20 to 30 years is probably a little bit too optimistic. 

Recorded on June 17, 2021. 

Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer helps us unpack what a potential shift in Fed policy might mean for investors’ portfolios.  Jurrien speaks with host Pamela Ritchie about the Fed’s policy to get people back to work and close the gap. He says the narrative of negative real yields becoming even more negative led the market into thinking that the Fed is raising rates too early. Jurrien says this is an overreaction and that the policy will be normalized as the economy is coming back to normal. Jurrien notes that inflation is currently soaring and is transitory. He adds that the Fed has tried to increase inflation four times in the past and has only been successful once.  Jurrien also shares his thoughts on gold and discusses what he has observed in the crypto markets. Follow along with Jurrien’s charts on Twitter: @TimmerFidelity.

Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer helps us unpack what a potential shift in Fed policy might mean for investors’ portfolios.  Jurrien speaks with host Pamela Ritchie about the Fed’s policy to get people back to work and close the gap. He says the narrative of negative real yields becoming even more negative led the market into thinking that the Fed is raising rates too early. Jurrien says this is an overreaction and that the policy will be normalized as the economy is coming back to normal. Jurrien notes that inflation is currently soaring and is transitory. He adds that the Fed has tried to increase inflation four times in the past and has only been successful once.  Jurrien also shares his thoughts on gold and discusses what he has observed in the crypto markets. Follow along with Jurrien’s charts on Twitter: @TimmerFidelity.

Fidelity International's Investment Director Tom Stevenson joins host Pamela Ritchie on the program to discuss his thoughts on the most recent FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting in Europe.  Headquartered in London, England, Tom shares his thoughts on inflation and the reopening trade.  Tom notes that the reopening trade in the UK is alive and kicking.  He says that people are starting to shop and spend, which indicates they are getting back to work.  At 2.1%, inflation in the UK was well ahead of expectations as it was originally forecasted to be closer to 1.8%.  Tom unpacks the events during the FOMC meeting and notes that the market reaction was not a surprise.  In this episode, Tom also looks at commodities, key investment themes in the long term, and shares his thoughts on the direction of the pound relative to the the US dollar.

Recorded on June 18, 2021. 

Transcript (PDF): https://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/transcript_podcast_stevenson_18-june.pdf