Fidelity Special Values PLC (LON:FSV) has published its monthly factsheet for January 2025.
Portfolio Manager Commentary
UK equities had a strong start in January despite an initial bout of volatility at the start of the month. Markets initially worried about weaker growth and rising bond yields across the globe leading to the pound depreciating and government borrowing costs rising as the market questioned government funding. Concerns eased as global bond yields fell and data showed UK inflation moderating.
Despite their improved performance over recent years, UK equities still look cheap relative to other markets and reasonable on an absolute basis. We believe that the combination of attractive valuations and the large divergence in performance between different parts of the market create good opportunities for attractive returns from UK stocks on a three-to-five-year view. Although the UK market continues to remain largely unloved by domestic investors, its attractive valuations are being recognised by other market participants such as overseas corporates and private equity firms who have been amongst the biggest bidders in the UK market. Underlining this interest has been the sharp spike in M&A activity which typically benefits the Trust given our focus on attractive valuations.
On a rolling 12-month basis, the Trust recorded NAV and share price returns of 20.3% and 19.8% respectively, compared to 17.1% for the index
Fidelity Special Values PLC (LON:FSV) aims to seek out underappreciated companies primarily listed in the UK and is an actively managed contrarian Investment Trust that thrives on volatility and uncertainty.
