HEAD-TO-HEAD: Blackrock versus Fidelity

123456

Manager review

“Both lead fund managers are well-regarded, experienced professionals who know what they’re doing,” said Poole.

Neeraj Seth has led the Blackrock Asian Tiger Bond Fund since 2012, but moved away from day-to-day management in late 2018. As head of Asian fixed income and credit, he sets the macro view and the risk parameters for the strategy, but also makes the final decision on allocation and bond selection.

Seth has 23 years investment experience, and his co-managers since November 2018, Artur Piasecki and Ronie Ganguly, have an average of 20 years in the industry.

According to Morningstar, Ganguly focuses on portfolio construction and overall credit selection and Piasecki’s expertise is high-yield bonds.

The three managers are backed by a 22-strong Asian fixed-income team — which includes 10 credit analysts – who have on average worked nearly six years at the firm.

Eric Wong has led the Fidelity Asian Bond since October 2013 and has 18 years’ experience in the industry. He joined Fidelity in 2012 from BlackRock, where he was responsible for managing emerging-markets bond portfolios.

Wong is helped by Morgan Lau and Belinda Liao, who became co-managers in January 2019 and July 2019, respectively, although Wong is the final decision-maker.

They are supported by an Asian credit research team comprising nine experienced members, which has been fairly stable, with two analyst departures since 2017, and they were promptly replaced. However, former head of Asian fixed income Bryan Collins left last June, although he maintains an advisory role on the strategy.

“The funds have experienced a similar shift in management emphasis, with the experienced leaders of both stepping back from micro-management in the last couple of years,” said Poole.

123456