On today’s show we welcome back income investing portfolio manager Mark Schmehl. Mark manages several funds, including Fidelity Canadian Growth Company Fund, Fidelity Global Innovators Class, and Fidelity Special Situations Fund. During these uncertain times in the market, Mark is focused on investing in the tails - cheap, boring tech stocks that pivot to AI companies and achieve significant earnings, or clear winners. He says the economy is clearly slowing down, but this is the most widely expected recession, which has not occurred so far. But his funds aren’t focused on the macro environment, he says. It’s a distraction from what’s really important. He adds, interest rates are not typically a factor in his investment decisions, but he is still mindful of it. Mark’s Global Innovators fund is a play on AI exposure. He says the early part of this cycle is going to be driven by investment; similar to when the internet came out. We know AI build will happen, but we don’t know who will be the one to build it. He adds an early part of the AI wave is deploying hardware to make it work. In the future, software is the clear beneficiary. Mark believes Companies will invest in AI at massive scale for the next 10 plus years.

Recorded on September 12, 2023.

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