Putting pen to paper to reflect on the year that was, I can safely say no one predicted the type of market that we’ve seen over the past 12 months. This time last year, investors were preparing for a much-anticipated US recession, a lowering of interest rates in major markets (economists were predicting 8 across the year in the US!), and a general slowdown in markets more broadly.
Happily, for both Australian and global investors, markets have performed strongly over the past 12 months, with the US market hitting record highs. Nvidia has become a household name, with its market capitalisation surpassing that of Apple’s*. And this is all in the context of continued conflicts, heightened geopolitical tensions, and sticky inflation.
But with lofty market valuations across a concentrated number of stocks, investors are wondering how they can look to diversify their portfolio. At Fidelity, we know there are always interesting opportunities to be found across the financial markets, reflecting our global strengths and local insights.
This leads me to some exciting product news which we’ve been working on for some time. We are proud to have recently launched four new Active ETFs on the ASX. Investors can now access active strategies investing in India, Asia, global small-mid caps, and Australian shares as ETFs in one simple trade.
Earlier this year, we also launched the Fidelity Global Bond Fund. While we are well-known for our equities experience, we have been managing fixed income assets for more than 35 years. We know that many of our clients are looking to invest globally in fixed income with a proven active manager, so we are delighted to be able to offer this solution to Australian investors.
We continue to be committed to helping investors on their investment journey and are super proud of our award-winning investment podcast - SoundBites - our home-grown monthly bite size podcast where you’ll hear from our investment experts around the world on all things investing. You can subscribe on our website, and it’s available on all the leading podcast platforms.
What’s in store for the next 12 months for Fidelity? While markets are clearly harder to predict, I do know that we will continue to bring to new solutions to Australian investors to help meet their investment goals. Fundamentally, investing can make a real impact to people’s financial futures, and we look forward to partnering with our clients on that journey.
*As at 6 June 2024
Or explore our other areas of focus here:
- Australian equities - Paul Taylor, Head of Investments, Australia and Portfolio Manager, Fidelity Australian Equities Fund
- Global equities - James Abela and Maroun Younes, Co-Portfolio Managers, Fidelity Global Future Leaders strategies
- Asian equities - Anthony Srom, Portfolio Manager, Fidelity Asia strategies
- Global emerging markets - Amit Goel, Portfolio Manager, Fidelity Global Emerging Markets strategies
- Sustainable investing - Daniela Jaramillo, Head of Sustainable Investing
