Fidelity European Values - Disciplined process driving outperformance

Fidelity European Values (FEV) is managed by Sam Morse, who selects stocks on a bottom-up basis, focusing on quality companies with strong balance sheets that are able to grow dividends over the long term. He notes that investor concerns that affected the market in 2019 are abating: central banks are very supportive; a resolution to the US-China trade war is looking more likely; and within Europe, there is the prospect of fiscal stimulus to support economic growth. While there is potential for a rotation in market leadership towards cyclical stocks, which could put the fund’s relative performance under pressure, the manager is ‘sticking to his knitting’, and remaining disciplined, rather than shifting his portfolio exposures in an effort to try to ‘time the market’.