Fidelity Global Special Situations

Fidelity Global Special Situations is run by Chistine Baalham and Tom Record and is made up predominantly of larger companies. Christine and Tom use the breadth of Fidelity's global research team to highlight what they see as being the best ideas from around the world. Holdings fall into one of three categories, forming a blended portfolio that can deliver consistently through all market conditions.

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Our Opinion

Christine has made a strong start to her fund management career and is a capable replacement of long-serving manager Jeremy Podger. The fund is benefited by a solid but flexible process with the ability to leverage on an extensive network of Fidelity's global analyst team.

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Christine is a portfolio manager at Ninety One, where she co-manages the Global Equity Strategy. She joined the 4Factor team in 2000, taking on various roles including global financials and services sector specialist, portfolio manager for the International Equity Fund, and head of the 4Factor UK Equity team from 2004 to 2014. Prior to Ninety One, Christine began her career at Schroder Investment Management in 1996, where she was part of the graduate training program and later worked as the UK insurance and tobacco analyst. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Chemistry from Cambridge University and graduated with a first-class degree in Natural Sciences. Christine is a member of the CFA Institute.

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Tom Record is the Lead Manager of the International Equity Fund and Co-Fund Manager of both the Global Equity and Global Focus funds at Liontrust. He joined the firm in April 2022 through the acquisition of Majedie Asset Management, where he had managed funds for eight years. At Liontrust, Tom is part of the Global Fundamental team. Prior to Majedie, Tom was an Investment Manager at Baillie Gifford, overseeing institutional portfolios with international equity assets totaling $30 billion and managing several Global Emerging Market funds. He holds Master of Arts and Master of Natural Sciences degrees in Biochemistry from Pembroke College, Cambridge, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Christine is a portfolio manager at Ninety One, where she co-manages the Global Equity Strategy. She joined the 4Factor team in 2000, taking on various roles including global financials and services sector specialist, portfolio manager for the International Equity Fund, and head of the 4Factor UK Equity team from 2004 to 2014. Prior to Ninety One, Christine began her career at Schroder Investment Management in 1996, where she was part of the graduate training program and later worked as the UK insurance and tobacco analyst. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Chemistry from Cambridge University and graduated with a first-class degree in Natural Sciences. Christine is a member of the CFA Institute.

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Tom Record is the Lead Manager of the International Equity Fund and Co-Fund Manager of both the Global Equity and Global Focus funds at Liontrust. He joined the firm in April 2022 through the acquisition of Majedie Asset Management, where he had managed funds for eight years. At Liontrust, Tom is part of the Global Fundamental team. Prior to Majedie, Tom was an Investment Manager at Baillie Gifford, overseeing institutional portfolios with international equity assets totaling $30 billion and managing several Global Emerging Market funds. He holds Master of Arts and Master of Natural Sciences degrees in Biochemistry from Pembroke College, Cambridge, and is a CFA Charterholder.

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Investment process

While the managers are aware of macroeconomic events, their ideas are driven at the stock level by Fidelity's large team of global analysts. Investments fall into one of three buckets: corporate change - shorter-term investments which take advantage of corporate restructuring or initial public offerings (new stocks coming to the market); exceptional value – cheap stocks which have a potential to grow earnings; and unique businesses – companies with a dominant position within their industries, which should be able to grow for many years to come.

Risk

The managers are conscious of the fund’s benchmark and will therefore have only modest differences between sectors or geographies. Fidelity Global Special Situations is very well diversified, with 100 to 150 holdings. This limits the impact of any one stock on the fund's performance. The three buckets approach will also mean that the fund will not be exposed to any one investment style.

ESG

ESG - Integrated  

The team works closely with analysts and the ESG team to evaluate ESG factors throughout the process and are believers in sustainability, both as a matter of principle and as a key driver of investment returns. As such, the team strives to gain an in-depth understanding of the relevant ESG issues applicable to their investments through the bottom-up research process, company engagement, active ownership and industry collaboration. Overall, the portfolio management team believes integrating ESG requires a holistic approach and is not simply a function of investing in those companies with strong ESG characteristics while avoiding those with poor ESG scores. The direction of travel matters and, as shareholders, they believe they can influence positive change for improved investor outcomes.

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