Fidelity launches "Fidelity International Opportunities Fund"

Fidelity Fund Management is bringing its world renowned expertise in international investment to the Indian market. Investors will now have the opportunity to add an element of geographical diversification to their portfolios with a fund house that has a strong track record in investing globally.

The Fidelity International Opportunities Fund is Fidelity's first international offering in India and other global products will be introduced once guidelines are issued under the recently announced $50,000 remittance scheme. This new fund is an open ended equity growth scheme that seeks to invest 65% in Indian equities and around 35% in international equities, with a focus on Asia, to generate long term capital appreciation.

Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and Country Head, Fidelity Fund Management Pvt. Ltd., said, "It is a landmark day for us. We are adding a new dimension to equity investing by bringing our international investment expertise to India. Investors will benefit from Fidelity's unparalleled experience of all the world's main equity markets through complete market cycles over several decades."

Rajesh Singh, Fund Manager, Fidelity International Opportunities Fund, said, "International investing lends itself perfectly to diversification benefits because each country's economy offers distinct inherent strengths and each has its own set of differing growth characteristics. Asia is going through a growth phase and offers a wide set of opportunities for stock picking in markets, some developed and others emerging. This fits well with Fidelity's investment philosophy of bottom-up stock picking which is underpinned by our global network of investment research professionals."

Ms Suyash added, "Equity investing, at the best of times, demands the rigour of research to generate consistent performance. And this is especially so when faced with the complexity of investing overseas. Our experience tells us that investors show a 'home country bias', largely because they prefer to stick with what they know. But this can have a negative impact on long-term investment returns. With our track record and experience spanning the globe, we are delighted to bring investors a simpler way of accessing opportunities in international markets. The Fidelity International Opportunities Fund is our first step and we look forward to bringing more products investing in international markets to Indian investors once the regulatory guidelines under the $50,000 remittance scheme are notified."

Elaborating on geographical diversification, Jed Wrigley, Director with Fidelity International, said, "In spite of an increasing integration of global markets, the correlation between India and other markets remains low. Different markets and their sectors move to different factors and business cycles. So, diversification reduces risk and brings more consistent returns. India accounts for only half a percent of the world's market capitalisation and Indian investors would be denying themselves a great opportunity by not looking at other markets."

The Fidelity International Opportunities Fund NFO will be open from April 9 - 30, 2007. The Fund will have a custom benchmark created using the BSE-200 to the extent of 65% of the portfolio and MSCI Asia-Pacific ex Japan for the balance 35%.

The minimum amount for lump sum investments is Rs 5000 and multiples of Rs 1000. The entry load is 2.25% for each purchase of less than Rs 5 crores. For amounts greater than or equal to Rs 5 crores or by an FOF or on dividend reinvestment or through switch-in from equity schemes, the entry load is NIL. There is an exit load of 1% for redemptions within the first six months.

To ensure that a wide cross-section of investors has the opportunity to invest, the Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) option will be available during the NFO period with a minimum of 6 instalments and each single instalment for a minimum of Rs. 500 and totalling not less than Rs. 5000. The entry and exit loads are the same as for lump sum investments.

Fidelity Fund Management Private Limited is the Indian arm of Fidelity International Limited, one of the world's leading global investment management companies with operations in 23 countries. Fidelity International provides mutual funds, retirement services, including defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes, and specialist institutional mandates to individual and institutional investors outside the Americas. In 2006 alone, Fidelity won 2771 awards for investment excellence - an outcome of consistently following its philosophy of 'bottom-up' stock picking that focuses on the core strengths of a company based on first-hand, 360-degree research. Fidelity International along with its US affiliate, Fidelity Management and Research Co., actively covers 95%2 of the world market capitalization through its unrivalled research network of over 7003 investment professionals. Central to Fidelity's success is a pioneering spirit, a commitment to innovation that sets new industry standards and an unmatched investment in research, talent and technology. Driven by an entrepreneurial culture, Fidelity is known to actively pursue investor education and distributor training, which it has also begun in the country.

Source : Equity Bulls

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