Fidelity International has decided to add to its stable of Fidelity Active Strategy (FAST) funds by launching the FAST UK Fund, an equity l/s UCITS.
Fidelity International has decided to add to its stable of Fidelity Active Strategy (FAST) funds by launching the FAST UK Fund, an equity l/s UCITS. Aruna Karunathilake is to manage the portfolio, in addition to the Fidelity UK Aggressive Fund – a long only fund – which he’s been running since December ’07 reported Citywire Global this week. FAST UK becomes the third fund in the series, following the launch of FAST Japan and FAST Europe. It is believed that the long only portfolio of FAST UK will be based on the UK Aggressive Fund, whilst the short portfolio will principally be managed using options strategies. Net equity market exposure will be 90 per cent to 110 per cent and with respect to shorting, Karunathilake will be able to use up to 30 per cent of the fund’s assets. Ben Waterhouse (pictured), Fidelity head of UK retail sales, said that Karunathilake’s style was suited to the FAST approach, using a structured process to rate individual stocks and then analyse them to see if they can generate alpha. The higher the rating the more likely a stock is to be picked for the long book. “Aruna has managed the Fidelity UK Aggressive Fund since December 2007 using a process that has delivered strong outperformance, a modest tracking error, and therefore a strong information ratio,” Waterhouse was quoted as saying. A team of 50 London-based Fidelity sector analysts will be available to support Karunathilake.
