Fidelity Special Values: ready for a rotation

After several months of dismal performance, cyclical stocks may finally have glimpsed some light at the end of the tunnel. The news of two different vaccine breakthroughs – from Pfizer (US:PFE) on 9 November and Moderna (US:MRNA) just a week later – have triggered big price gains for economically sensitive groups including airline stocks, pub groups and some financials.

Any rally could, ultimately, prove short-lived and even misleading. The IC’s Phil Oakley has warned that such moves will have been driven in part by short sellers covering their positions rather than renewed investor confidence. But these wins will remind readers that the value style of investment could ultimately return to favour – especially if the path out of lockdown now starts to become clearer. In that context, some may wish to reconsider the merits of value-oriented equity funds.

After a decade of underperformance, dedicated value names are few and far between. But options do remain, including Fidelity Special Values (FSV).

This investment trust has already benefited somewhat from recent gains: its shares traded at a premium of more than 2 per cent to the portfolio’s net asset value (NAV) on 17 November, having sat on an average discount of nearly 4 per cent over the previous 12 months. But a focus on unpopular, domestic-facing UK stocks could continue to deliver substantial gains in the coming years.

As analysts at fund research outlet FundCalibre have noted, holdings in the trust that could benefit from an improving economic situation include Meggitt (MGGT), which provides components to aerospace businesses, and C&C (CCR), a drinks company which has been hit hard by the pandemic but continues to make money.

Investment manager Alex Wright has also used debt to ramp up the trust’s exposure to its portfolio, with gearing recently coming to 17 per cent of assets. This additional exposure would allow the portfolio to benefit more from any future gains.

Importantly, Mr Wright also focuses on preserving capital. As FundCalibre analysts note, the investment team choose companies “with exceptionally cheap valuations or an asset, such as intellectual property or inventory, which has the potential to limit share price falls”. The team also seeks companies where there is a catalyst for significant earnings growth, rather than blindly hoping for economic improvements.

In an end of September update, Mr Wright noted that the portfolio was “fairly balanced” in terms of risk, with exposure spread out across more than 100 holdings. The team has also been focusing on companies that have prospered in the pandemic, rather than simply buying beaten up stocks, while going underweight mainstream banks and oil and gas names.

“Unusually for a recession, some households are better off, as they spend less on eating out, holidays and transport due to the restrictions,” Mr Wright said in an end of September commentary.

“The pandemic has led them to reassess their priorities, and we are seeing evidence of increased demand in areas such as housing, DIY, electronics and sportswear/bicycle sales. Very unusually, some companies are actually upgrading their earnings guidance, despite the pandemic. These are areas where we have built meaningful exposure.”

Because of the share price dynamic and its use of gearing, this trust could deliver greater end returns than an open-ended fund if the situation does improves. But the opposite also applies, with trust shares tending to prove volatile on bad news and struggling to recover amid weak investor sentiment.

Value investing has had many false dawns, and the UK economy faces plenty of challenges. Investors should also be aware that they can still get some cyclical exposure through more generalist equity funds. But Fidelity Special Values may provide racier, contrarian exposure currently lacking in your portfolio. Buy. DB