HEAD-TO-HEAD: Blackrock versus Fidelity

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Manager review

The Blackrock fund has three portfolio managers: lead manager Michael Fredericks and co-managers Justin Cristofel and Alex Shingler, according to Claus.

Fredericks and Cristofel have been managing the fund since 2013, while Shingler joined the team in 2015.

The three managers are personally invested in the fund, Claus noted.

The trio makes the asset-allocation decisions with the support of two macroeconomic analysts. In terms of security selection, they leverage on 15 investment teams that run the different sleeves of the portfolio, Claus said.

She noted that the portfolio is exclusively invested in Blackrock products.

Turning to the Fidelity fund, Claus said that the product is also managed by three portfolio managers: Eugene Philalithis, George Efstathopoulos and Chris Forgan.

Philalithis has been managing the fund since its launch in 2013, while Efstathopoulos became a co-manager in 2015. Forgan joined the team in 2018 from Janus Henderson to replace Nick Peters, Claus said.

Like the Blackrock fund, the trio are responsible for overseeing the top-down allocation of the product, while the security selection is done by investment teams linked to the different strategies managed by Fidelity.

The managers invest roughly 80% of the portfolio into Fidelity products.

Claus has no concerns over both teams, as the managers are experienced and have receive ample support from the firm.

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