Important information - the value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest.
"These are some of the most dynamic and adaptable managers that I’ve ever met. If things change, they change. I always say: if they made bicycles, and they went out of fashion, they’d change to toothbrushes. They’re not stuck in their ways."
Anthony Bolton, July 2025
In 2010, Anthony Bolton came out of retirement to restart his hugely successful investing career, launching Fidelity China Special Situations. 15 years on, Anthony and his hand-picked successor, Dale Nicholls, joined me in the studio to look back on a decade and a half of investing in the world’s second largest and most dynamic economy - and concluded that it remains a great investment opportunity.
"Now is an exciting time to be invested in China, because it’s one of the few markets in the world that is not near its all-time high. And I particularly compare China to America, which is at its peak - shares have done amazingly well, obviously anything related to AI - and I just don’t feel that that has rubbed off on China.
You get these great disparities - BYD versus Tesla, for example. BYD sells about the same number of cars, but it’s about a seventh of the capitalisation. And then Alibaba and Amazon - they’re different companies, but Alibaba is about a tenth the capitalisation of Amazon. And I think that gap will close."
Anthony Bolton, July 2025
Anthony Bolton started managing the China Special Situations investment trust in 2010, but his interest in the region began around five years earlier, when he filled in for a colleague on a trip to China and was bowled over by what he saw.
Although he was then managing the highly successful Special Situations fund, he took advantage of his ability to move out of the fund’s domestic market with a small proportion of its assets. He invested 10% in Chinese or China-related stocks.
Then a few years later, having stepped back from full-time fund management in the UK, he told Barry Bateman, Fidelity’s boss at the time, that he wanted to head out to Asia and give it another go. The stage was set for the launch of the trust - and its snappy marketing tagline: Bolton to Beijing.
In 2014, Dale Nicholls picked up the baton and has run with it, successfully, for the past 11 years. At its peak, the trust had seen a founder investor’s stake rise five-fold from the launch price. The past is no guide to the future performance of the trust, but Dale, too, remains enthusiastic about the opportunities he’s finding in China. ‘There’s a great dynamism among the companies on the ground. We’ve seen massive innovation over that period, and that’s likely to continue. As companies execute and those earnings come through, I think there’s good potential for that China discount to close.’
Anthony’s conclusion, as he assesses the legacy of China Special Situations: ‘It’s just such a big economy and so important - and that’s why I think all investors need to consider some exposure to China.’
Important information - investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. Overseas investments will be affected by movements in currency exchange rates. Investments in emerging markets can be more volatile than other more developed markets. Reference to specific securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities and is included for the purposes of illustration only. Shares in the investment trusts are listed on the London Stock Exchange and their price is affected by supply and demand. The investment trust can gain additional exposure to the market, known as gearing, potentially increasing volatility. This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.
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