Anthony Bolton to manage new Fidelity China portfolio
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Fidelity fund guru Anthony Bolton is to return to managing money next year with the launch of a new portfolio investing in China and China-related opportunities.
Bolton is to relocate to Hong Kong early next year with a launch due towards the end of March. Fidelity opened its Hong Kong office in 1981 and set up a representative office in China in 2004.
He says: “I firmly believe that China is the investment opportunity of the next decade. I have been a regular visitor to China since 2004, when I started meeting and investing in Chinese companies. After spending the last few months in Asia, I have become increasingly excited by the prospect of managing a portfolio investing in the tremendous growth potential of China.”
Fidelity International chief investment officer for Asia Pacific John Ford says: “Anthony’s decision to move to Hong Kong and return to portfolio management is clear recognition of the significant investment opportunities in China over the next decade. Fidelity has experience across the board of investing in Chinese companies.”
Bolton ran Fidelity’s special situations fund from launch in 1979 until the end of 2007 achieving an annualised return of 19.5 per cent.
Readers' comments (4)
Martin Bamford | 26 Nov 2009 8:45 am
This is very good news for the investment world. It's a bit like if Schumacher returned to F1!
I look forward to seeing how he overcomes the challenges associated with getting exposure to the growth of the Chinese economy. Being located in Hong Kong will certainly help.
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Ed Bowsher | 26 Nov 2009 10:08 am
Wow! I didn't expect this. I think there's a very strong chance I'll invest in this fund.
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Dathan Steele | 26 Nov 2009 10:43 am
Fascinating. Bolton obviously does not need the money, as he was well rewarded for the stellar returns he made with SS. Interesting that sitting on the beach (and calling the bottom of the market twice/three times?! in the FT), is not enough stimulation for Bolton.
So, can Bolton transfer his awesome stock picking skill set from the UK to China? Will it work in a differing market?
If you believe in Value stock picking (Graham/Buffett et al) then Bolton is the man. My understanding is that the only manager to have ever done better in the retail space is Peter Lynch, another Fidelity manager.
Looking at an individual company is a transferable skill, as long as corporate governance is of similar standard. However, looking at the events surrounding Hermitage Capital in Russia there are risks in investing in countries which do not have our democratic ethos. The Russians were happy to boot out William Browder, at the time the largest foreign investor, seemingly without thought or care as to the message this would send to other outside investors.
So would I invest? China, despite its size is still an 'emerging market' from a risk perspective, although of course there is an alternative view that China has 'emerged' and is now the engine of the world. Personally I am torn between my 'hippy' belief that a regime which rolls tanks over innocent protesters is not a place to put any of my money, and between my 'greedy' investor belief that China will produce the greatest returns over the next decade.
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Dathan Steele | 26 Nov 2009 12:26 pm
Fascinating. Bolton obviously does not need the money, as he was well rewarded for the stellar returns he made with SS. Interesting that sitting on the beach (and calling the bottom of the market twice/three times?! in the FT), is not enough stimulation for Bolton.
So, can Bolton transfer his awesome stock picking skill set from the UK to China? Will it work in a differing market?
If you believe in Value stock picking (Graham/Buffett et al) then Bolton is the man. My understanding is that the only manager to have ever done better in the retail space is Peter Lynch, another Fidelity manager.
Looking at an individual company is a transferable skill, as long as corporate governance is of similar standard. However, looking at the events surrounding Hermitage Capital in Russia there are risks in investing in countries which do not have our democratic ethos. The Russians were happy to boot out William Browder, at the time the largest foreign investor, seemingly without thought or care as to the message this would send to other outside investors.
So would I invest? China, despite its size is still an 'emerging market' from a risk perspective, although of course there is an alternative view that China has 'emerged' and is now the engine of the world. Personally I am torn between my 'hippy' belief that it is not a regime in which I want to put any of my money, and between my 'greedy' investor belief that China will produce the greatest returns over the next decade.
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