Investment management firm Fidelity International announced today the launch of three new regionally focused portfolios, adding to the firm’s Sustainable Family of Funds. The new launches include: Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Asia Equity Fund, Fidelity Funds – Sustainable European Smaller Companies Fund, and the Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Japan Equity Fund.

The Fidelity Sustainable Family currently consists of eight funds, including water and waste and carbon reduction sustainable thematic strategies, as well as two best in class equity funds, one best in class fixed income fund and three Enhanced Sustainability ETFs. According to Fidelity International, the Sustainable Family’s investment approach is underpinned by three pillars, centred around engagement, exclusion, and Fidelity’s proprietary research.

The firm applies threshold ESG rating criteria to the Sustainable family portfolios, including having at least 70% of fund holdings in MSCI-rated ESG scores of at least BBB or, if there is no MSCI rating, FIL ESG scores of at least C. The remaining 30% must have improving ESG trajectories.

Christophe Gloser, Head of Sales, Continental Europe, Fidelity International, said:

“Ultimately, our clients’ goals are fundamentally aligned with those of society and it is our place to ensure we represent them in the best way possible. Like them, we believe that by investing in companies which operate with high standards of sustainability we can protect and enhance investment returns for our clients.”

Jenn-Hui Tan, Global Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investing, Fidelity International added:

“We have responded to our clients’ demands in recent years by substantially developing our in-house resources to scrutinise and map sustainability risks, including the introduction of our proprietary Sustainability Ratings which form the cornerstone of our ESG analysis. Our Sustainable Family has grown from five to eleven funds in just over a year, and I fully expect this trend to continue in line with rising regulatory focus and increasing client demand.”

Fidelity International described the new funds as follows:

• The Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Asia Equity Fund aims to deliver long-term capital growth through investment in a diversified portfolio of sustainable stocks across Asia excluding Japan. Lead Portfolio Manager, Dhananjay Phadnis has 18 years of investment experience and has been successfully managing funds since April 2008. He will be supported by Flora Wang our current Director for sustainable investing, as an Associate Portfolio Manager for this strategy. Flora will act as a dedicated ESG specialist for a deeper integration of sustainability into Dhananjay’s investment process.

• The Fidelity Funds – Sustainable European Smaller Companies Fund aims to achieve long term capital growth by investing in small and medium-sized European companies with attractive growth characteristics, above average returns, strong balance sheets and conservative accounting policies. Lead Portfolio Manager, Jim Maun has over 20 years of investment experience and has been successfully managing funds since September 2008. He is supported by Co-Portfolio Manager, Joseph Edwards, who joined Fidelity as an Equity research Analyst in February 2012, before being promoted to Assistant Portfolio Manager in 2018. 

• The Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Japan Equity Fund aims achieve long term capital growth by investing in Japanese companies with attractive growth characteristics, above average returns and strong balance sheets. The fund will be managed by Lead Portfolio Manager, Hokeun Chung, and experienced Japanese equity investor having held various roles as an analyst, research director and portfolio manager. He will be supported by Assistant Portfolio Managers, Tomohiro Ikawa, Cenk Simsek and Eddie Tajima.