FidelityConnects

Catherine Yeung, Investment Director at Fidelity International, shares her insights on trade in the Asia-Pacific region, the shift to value stocks, and the progress and impact of the vaccine rollout in this region. In 2019 and 2020, returns in China were underpinned by a narrow rally in key sectors such as biotech and big tech. Catherine says there seems to be a pull of the pendulum back to some of the big Tech household names to some degree. She notes that China is moving away from traditional e-commerce to a more interactive e-commerce platform. Catherine discusses debt markets, noting that the main concern is inflation and the argument of whether it will be transitory or permanent. She believes the U.S.-China relationship and the competitiveness between these two nations are not going away anytime soon. Therefore, we are going to have periods of volatility as these trade negotiations play out.

Recorded on May 28, 2021.

Steve Dufour, portfolio manager of Fidelity U.S. Focused Stock Fund, shares his thoughts on concentrated investing in the era of disruption. Steve shares his investment strategies and processes that have contributed to past performance of his concentrated portfolio. Steve also weighs in on the inflation discussion and shares his belief that it is transitory because of government stimulus. He notes that he is very excited for ESG data to come out and shares how he plans to use this data. The healthcare industry has traditionally been focused on curing diseases, and Steve has been excitedly following the recent progressions of technology in the healthcare industry. Steve also shares his thoughts on volatility and investment in big tech.

Recorded on May 19, 2021.

Steve Dufour, portfolio manager of Fidelity U.S. Focused Stock Fund, shares his thoughts on concentrated investing in the era of disruption. Steve shares his investment strategies and processes that have contributed to past performance of his concentrated portfolio. Steve also weighs in on the inflation discussion and shares his belief that it is transitory because of government stimulus. He notes that he is very excited for ESG data to come out and shares how he plans to use this data. The healthcare industry has traditionally been focused on curing diseases, and Steve has been excitedly following the recent progressions of technology in the healthcare industry. Steve also shares his thoughts on volatility and investment in big tech.

Recorded on May 19, 2021.

In today’s episode, we welcome portfolio managers Kris Atkinson and Sajiv Vaid to introduce Fidelity Climate Leadership Bond Fund. Sajiv and Kris discuss how the conversation around ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) has changed and accelerated in recent years with a rise in interest from investors and increase in focus from the regulators and central banks. Kris states that the fund uses the same tools for ESG research and ratings that are used throughout the rest of Fidelity. Sajiv discusses these research and ratings Fidelity has built. He believes the “E” and “S” have been more integrated at Fidelity. Additionally, Kris believes that we all have different opinions on what qualifies as sustainable. He says that having a standardized view of sustainability, good ESG, and bad EGS is always going to be difficult. Kris and Sajiv also discuss finding global opportunities for the fund using research, how companies can measure their impact on climate and agriculture as new technology.

Recorded on May 27, 2021.

Value versus growth, or a bit of both? We welcome U.S. equities portfolio manager Steve MacMillan to weigh in on this topic and discuss his funds as we move ahead to the second half of 2021. Steve manages Fidelity American Equity Fund and recently celebrated his 10th anniversary managing Fidelity Small Cap America Fund. He discusses the phases the market has gone through since the November 9 vaccine announcement day. Leading up to the vaccine day the market was led by growth stocks, but cyclical stocks have done well post vaccine day. Steve also discusses factors that have driven stocks over the last year and notes that the lowest market cap stocks did the best. He looks at what has been driving the biotech sector, how he allocates cash, and shares his thoughts on gold and oil. Steve shares that one of the most significant changes to the portfolio has been reducing exposure to Information Technology, noting that at one point, Information Technology was 30% plus of the fund, and now it’s more mid-teens. Additionally, he discusses the difference between Fidelity American Equity Fund and Fidelity Small Cap America Fund.

Recorded on May 26, 2021.

Portfolio manager of Fidelity Long/Short Alternative Fund, David Way, shares his thoughts on an alternative approach to drive down volatility. David discusses his investment philosophy and investment process. He says he casts a very wide net when he is investing and does not limit where he looks. When looking at shorting, he uses three big buckets to look for opportunity. The first bucket is classic financial shorts, the second bucket is ESG detractors, and the third bucket is a hedge for long. David notes that most importantly he takes a balanced approach. He was positioned to benefit from a recovery in the market, and more recently in the transition from growth to value. Additionally, David shares his thoughts on bitcoin and inflation. He says that he focuses more on interesting areas where there are very clear opportunities.

Recorded on May 19, 2021.

As we approach the halfway mark of 2021, market turbulence is a major theme driving investors’ sentiment. Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro, shares his thoughts on what’s moving the markets around the world. Jurrien believes Bitcoin reached targets pre-maturely and that it will sit between $30,000 and $70,000. He also discusses how cryptocurrency fits into the “40” category in a “60/40” portfolio construction. He believes that Ethereum and alternative coins could belong on both sides of a 60/40 portfolio, while Bitcoin is an alternative to fixed-income as it acts as digital gold. Jurrien also shares his views on how the market has performed over the last few months, coming out of the growth momentum. He discusses his thoughts on the rotation and current valuations. Jurrien states that because of the downturn, any rebound will show spikes of growth due to the depressed base. Follow along with Jurrien's charts on Twitter: @TimmerFidelity

Recorded on May 25, 2021.

Hugo Lavallée, portfolio manager, is back to share his contrarian approach to climate leadership. Hugo manages the new Fidelity Climate Leadership Fund, and several other mandates. Global decarbonization is a super trend that has gained popularity in recent years. According to Hugo, Fidelity Climate Leadership Fund was designed to reduce the risks and benefit from opportunities created by this trend. Humans emit 51 tons of greenhouse gasses per year, but changes in consumer trends, price regulation, and government actions will reduce carbon emissions. Additionally, Hugo unpacks the strategy behind the new fund which focuses on investing in companies that are believed to be climate leaders, climate solutions providers and climate reformer. Hugo explains how they work together as an investment framework for the fund. He also explains government considerations and current opportunities for clean technology.

Recorded on May 19, 2021.

Aujourd’hui, le gestionnaire de portefeuille Hugo Lavallée est de retour parmi nous. M. Lavallée gère le nouveau Fonds Fidelity Leadership climatique, ainsi que les Fonds Fidelity Canada Plus et Potentiel Canada. Il traite du nouveau fonds avec l'animateur Charles Danis et de l’approche à contre-courant qu’il utilise dans cette stratégie d’actions mondiales, conçue pour réduire les risques et profiter des occasions issues de la tendance mondiale vers une économie à faibles émissions de carbone. M. Lavallée explique comment le Fonds Fidelity Leadership climatique cherche à procurer une croissance à long terme en investissant dans des sociétés perçues comme des leaders, des fournisseurs de solutions et des réformateurs sur le plan climatique.

Date : 20 mai 2021

Paul Ma, VP and Lead Portfolio Strategist, and Vivian Hsu, Director, ETFs and Liquid Alternatives, discuss value and factor investing as well as inflation hedging strategies. Vivian notes that volatility has increased for risky assets such as bitcoin. She says the ETF industry is growing at quite a fast pace and has already started to surpass last year’s flow. Factors such as Financials, Energy, Value and Small Cap have performed well. Paul mentions that there is a temporary inflation and there is more sticky inflation. He believes that it is mostly temporary inflation that would be solved with supply and demand. Vivian notes that the liquid alternative space has been growing rapidly since being made available to retail investors. Paul and Vivian also provide their insights on whether the 60/40 allocation still holds.

Recorded on May 20, 2021.