FidelityConnects

Portfolio manager Ramona Persaud discusses how cycles of hope and fear have played into her bottom up approach to investing in a conversation with sector strategist, Denise Chisholm, who has a complementary, top down approach. As we approach Q4 2020, Ramona and Denise provide their market observations, and reflect on the year so far. Ramona believes that value investing wins over time, and if you’re focused on trying to generate alpha or excess return, the best predictor of excess return over time is valuation. Denise explains how in her role as a sector strategist, she is responsible for the research of portfolio construction strategies combining sector-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

Recorded on September 16, 2020.

Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer discusses the recent market correction, why he thinks it’s taken place, what it’s done for inflation expectations and how COVID-19 and the election could affect the markets. Following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the market corrected itself, with the S&P 500 Index down 9.8% and the Nasdaq Composite Index down 14%. Jurrien notes that during normal corrections there is usually a rotation between sectors, but that didn’t happen during the week of September 21, 2020: everything was down. The market had been waiting impatiently for the next wave of fiscal relief, and the momentum based on an approaching agreement on fiscal stimulus was dissipated amid the politics surrounding Justice Ginsburg’s death. Although the number of COVID-19 cases is rising, death rates are not. If this continues to be the trend, Jurrien believes the market can deal with it, as long as businesses remain open, so the economic consequences are not too severe.

Recorded on September 28, 2020.

Hugo explains how his contrarian style of investment has opened up opportunities. He manages both the Canadian Opportunities Fund as well as the Greater Canada Fund. He says he takes a two to three year rolling time horizon when looking at specific companies meaning that he looks at companies he can buy and what has fallen, but will be better in two to three years. He believes that consumer trends have been accelerated, specifically the work from home culture, travel, and an increase in outdoor actives just to name a few examples. He is also seeing a massive trend in green initiatives, which is something he is incorporating in his portfolio. And when asked what types of companies he’s investing in, he points out that’s it’s not only about what you own, it’s about what you don’t own. He says the message he wants to leave clients is that there is always something to buy, it just takes time to find it. 

Recorded on September 23, 2020.

Eileen Dibb shares her Asia-Pacific outlook on which countries and sectors are performing well, and describes the impact political events, from the U.S. election to a new Japanese prime minister, may have on the region. Eileen also gives an update on the current positioning of Fidelity AsiaStar® Fund and Fidelity Japan Fund and how it might change.  Chinese stocks and the economy have rebounded strongly, but have been cooling off slightly lately, Eileen notes. Relative to the rest of the world, China’s economy is strong, partially as a result of having been first-in, first-out with the coronavirus. Japan is a very cyclical market, and the auto and retail sectors have started to see a rebound. Eileen has shifted her weightings and is allocating more than the benchmark to Japan, and has added exposure to trucking and commodities.

Recorded on September 18, 2020.

Former Bank of Canada advisor and portfolio manager David Wolf weighs in on changing monetary and fiscal policy, and shares his outlook and positions on asset classes and regions. The Global Asset Allocation (GAA) team is focusing on the defensive aspect of multi-asset funds. The GAA team is currently moving into an environment where the traditional 60/40 set-up will not work as well; as a result, they need to rely on research to be more creative in how they reduce potential risk. Looking at the upcoming U.S. election, David believes because you can’t guess the winner or call the process, that the most reliable prediction is that no matter what happens, the aftermath has the potential to be messy. However, it might also create opportunities for the GAA team to find cheap options in the resulting turbulence. David also comments on the Canadian dollar, the Canadian housing market, Europe, and emerging markets.

Recorded on September 15, 2020.

Portfolio manager Kyle Weaver shares views on U.S. equities and long-term trends beyond the upcoming elections and ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Kyle, who manages the recently launched Fidelity U.S. Growth Opportunities Class, shares his investment philosophy and what he looks for when investing in companies. Kyle calls this one of the most volatile years he’s ever experienced, but notes that Fidelity U.S. Growth Opportunities Class is always positioned to add to opportunities if they should arise. March and April offered a great example of the Class in action: there were so many forced sellers in the market that it was a great opportunity to add to Kyle’s favourite names at prices that were extremely low – as much as 50–70% cheaper than they were in January. While Kyle finds the search for breakthrough growth stocks the most exciting, because of their potential to generate high returns, he won’t take his eyes off mega-cap stocks. They remain the most important names in the index and in his portfolio. 

Recorded on September 16, 2020.

Our Fidelity expert panel provides an in-depth analysis of the information technology, health care, consumer staples and utilities sectors. Director of Research and portfolio manager Joe Overdevest leads the discussion, along with equity research analysts Claire Fleming and Max Adelson. Joe, Claire and Max discuss the current market environment and address which sectors they think have more room to run. Joe still believes in a “K-shaped” recovery; it isn’t a textbook recovery, and entertainment, transportation and restaurants are all facing major headwinds. As trends change, he thinks the last 10–20% of the economy may be slow to come back, from a behaviour perspective, and we may not see things go back to the same as they were 12 months ago. Joe is leaning on Fidelity’s investment process to find potential winners in this market and notes that proprietary research is being done on credit card data and on tech spending by major banks.

Recorded on September 11, 2020.

In the seventh episode of the Fidelity ETF Exchange - powered by FidelityConnects, co-hosts Étienne Joncas Bouchard and Katrina Wilson take a deep dive into High Dividend Factor ETFs. This is the first of a five part series called Factors in Focus. Over the course of the coming weeks, Etienne and Katrina will offer their outlook on various investment factors, describe how they have performed in the past, and most importantly how advisors and investors can incorporate them into their portfolios.

Recorded on September 17, 2020.

Le gestionnaire de portefeuille Daniel Dupont discute des secteurs intéressants et de la façon dont il investit actuellement dans le secteur pétrolier et gazier. Il partage également son point de vue sur l’or et les raisons qui pourraient justifier de suspendre les placements dans ce secteur. M. Dupont pense que malgré les bons rendements aux États-Unis, ce sont l’Europe, l’Asie et les marchés émergents qui offriront les meilleures occasions au cours des 10 prochaines années, et avec un peu de chance, ils pourraient tous surpasser le marché américain. Il estime que pour les investisseurs souples qui connaissent leurs titres et savent ce qui les intéresse, le marché offre parfois de nombreuses occasions d’acquérir un titre.

Date : 8 septembre 2020

Portfolio Manager Dan Dupont joins host Pamela Ritchie for another FidelityConnects podcast. Dan manages all or portions of Fidelity Canadian Large Cap Fund, Northstar, Monthly Income and Income Allocation. In this episode, he discusses his downside protection focused investment style and how he is currently investing in the oil and gas sector. He also shares his thoughts on the gold trade, and why now might be a good time to pause. Dan also notes that the tech sector is back to where it was four to five weeks ago, which he sees as an opportunity to reposition. If you're nimble and know your stocks, the market will give you other opportunities to buy securities. Looking into the future, Dan's bet for the next 10 years or so is that Europe, Asia, and emerging markets will outperform the US. 

Recorded on September 8, 2020.