Fidelity Expands ESG Investment Suite with New Health & Wellness-Focused Fund
Investment management firm Fidelity announced today the launch of the Fidelity Healthy Future Fund (FAPHX), adding a new health and wellness-focused fund to its lineup of thematic sustainable offerings.
The new actively managed equity strategy aims to invest in companies globally, with products, services or technologies believed to either extend and/or improve life expectancy, enhance health and wellness in people’s lives, or mitigate negative environmental impacts affecting health and wellness. The fund will invest in themes including healthcare, nutrition, mental health, reduction in air pollution, and housing.
The new fund will use Fidelity’s proprietary ESG ratings framework, in addition to third party ESG ratings. Fidelity’s ESG ratings framework, launched in 2020, aims to determine both current conditions and future potential, utilizing analysis and discussion among the firm’s ESG and fundamental equity and fixed income analysts to develop two distinct ratings, including a quantitative rating based on historical and current data, and a forward-looking qualitative assessment of an issuer’s sustainability outlook.
With the new launch, Fidelity now offers 23 ESG-focused mutual funds and ETFs. The sustainable investing suite consists of funds that target specific ESG themes, including climate action, alternative energy, water, and women’s leadership, as well as broader sustainable funds that encompass multiple ESG themes.
Pam Holding, Co-Head of Equity and Head of Sustainable Investing at Fidelity Investments, said:
“The pandemic has put the importance of overall health and wellness at the forefront of consumer consciousness, and we believe there are many factors that will continue to drive this global trend. With this new fund, Fidelity offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to the long-term movement of health and wellness through an actively-managed sustainable strategy.”