Chiandetti is currently portfolio manager of the Luxembourg-domiciled Fidelity Funds Italy and Fidelity Funds Switzerland. He has 15 years’ investment experience and Fidelity describes him as ‘a bottom up stock-picker’ with an unconstrained, high conviction approach. It says a key part of his approach is looking specifically at how elements of change can act as 'catalysts for growth'.
Current portfolio manager Colin Stone will work closely with Chiandetti over the next few months before handing over sole responsibility on 1 October 2014.
Stone will continue to manage Fidelity’s European small cap strategy while Chiandetti will continue to manage the Italy and Switzerland funds with the help of additional resources.
In terms of how the managers compare, both are bottom-up stock pickers and adopt an unconstrained approach, with a high level of active money and a high tracking error, a Fidelity spokesperson said. Their funds also share a bias towards mid-cap stocks, which is where the company says its research platform yields the most benefit.
Key differences between the two include the fact that Chiandetti runs a more concentrated portfolio and has less of a quality bias than Stone, who typically has 60-90 stocks in European Opportunities fund whereas Chiandetti holds 25-50 in his current offshore country funds.
“Alberto’s appointment shows the depth of talent within Fidelity’s investment team,” said Paras Anand, head of European equities. “UK investors in Europe ex-UK strategies are increasingly looking for concentrated funds with a high level of active money and we believe Alberto is a good fit given his strong record of running money in this style,” he added.
