Fidelity

During times of intense volatility and uncertainty, it is normal for investors to shorten their investment timelines. Fidelity’s Paras Anand, Head of Asset Management, Asia Pacific, takes a step back from the current noise and outlines three key themes that are set to endure and reward investors with a longer-term view.

With over 20 years of experience investing in Asia, I have invested through both the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-98 and the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008. When it comes to periods of market downturn, and financial crises, each one is different and nuanced with differing causal effects. This time is different again. It is not about over-leveraging, but it is a global pandemic that we are facing. What began as an outbreak in China has now assumed a global scale. It is not financial distress, rather it is uncertainty about individual health and fear about personal wellbeing everywhere.

Looking to the year ahead, Fidelity Asia Fund portfolio manager, Teera Chanpongsang believes investors face a new set of norms given a meaningful shift in the Sino-US dynamics and its impact on global growth. Encouragingly, however, Teera explains that Asian economic activity continues to outpace the West as long duration structural changes look to unfold in the year ahead.

When it comes to index funds, investors may be drawn to a low headline OCF as they believe their interests are best served by having the lowest fees possible. But is this really the case? We outline why extensive due diligence is key when selecting index funds and reveal the questions you need to ask to achieve better investment outcomes.

As monetary tools reach their limits, calls for sustained fiscal stimulus are growing. While conventional thinking would assume that this environment would negatively impact bond investors, Sajiv Vaid challenges this view and outlines why he believes low yields are here to stay irrespective of the prevailing fiscal policy stance.

Fidelity Emerging Markets Fund Manager Nick Price tackles the myriad of issues and opportunities currently facing investors across the world’s developing markets. He outlines how he is navigating macro uncertainties and reveals the pockets of potential he sees across the EM complex.

Rising labour costs and recent trade tensions is resulting in some companies relocating production lines out of China. Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund portfolio manager Dhananjay Phadnis looks at how ASEAN is benefiting from this shift.

Fidelity China Consumer Fund portfolio manager Hyomi Jie investigates how the trend towards premiumisation is creating new opportunities among local companies.

Paras Anand, Fidelity’s Head of Asset Management, Asia uncovers the wider benefits and opportunities Asia’s growing ESG considerations bring to investors.

Asia’s economic emergence over recent decades has been reflected in what happens at ground level, where disruptive beginners have matured into established market leaders within their respective fields. Fidelity’s Teera Chanpongsang shares insight from his 25 years of active management in Asia, where he’s seen Asia grow up and mature from a frontier market to a region that is now a key contributor to global growth.

After a strong opening to 2019 - and one of the longest bull markets in history - should we now expect a period of consolidation in equities? Fidelity Global Dividend Fund portfolio manager Dan Roberts discusses the benefits of emphasising dividends in the current environment and outlines how he is positioned for the challenges ahead.

During the broad market sell-off of late 2018, Fidelity Global Dividend Fund manager Dan Roberts considered several potential new investments. In this feature, Dan Roberts and Fidelity media sector analyst Nick Wilkes outline how they built conviction that Informa - a leading global events and exhibitions business - possessed the strength and resilience to deliver an attractive dividend-based total return.

Fidelity’s Dan Roberts examines the hidden risks in relying on ‘adjusted earnings’, arguing that they should not be taken at face value. Dan explains how management teams can sometimes use adjustments to flatter financial performance and how we manage this risk in the Fidelity Global Dividend Fund.

With the outlook for earnings growth and valuations precarious, Fidelity Global Dividend Fund Manager Dan Roberts discusses why dividends could be a valuable source of returns for investors in the year ahead. He outlines how he goes about identifying sustainable dividend payers that possess the competitive and financial strength to prosper across cycles.

The deeply unloved status of the UK equity market has created no shortage of contrarian value opportunities. However, with economic and political risks evident, Fidelity Special Situations Fund portfolio manager Alex Wright believes selectivity is crucial - as well as a low starting valuation, he outlines the other key criteria that are informing his stock picks.

As a contrarian, the unrelenting negativity towards the UK equity market is making Fidelity Special Situations Fund Manager Alex Wright feel more and positive on the prospects for 2019. It might be counterintuitive to think that the UK market could be among the top performers in the year that we leave the EU (if we do). But markets often have a way of surprising the consensus.

Growth stocks have strongly rewarded investors over the last decade, but are signs now emerging that the market’s enthusiasm has gone too far? Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund Manager Jeremy Podger assesses the recent growing pains and whether non-tech areas can pick up the slack.

Jeremy Podger, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund, answers the key questions that investors are asking as we run into extra time in the current cycle. He looks at how quantitative tightening could play out, whether there’s a margin of safety in current valuations and addresses the value vs growth stocks debate.