Morningstar has reinstated the ‘neutral’ rating on the Fidelity China Special Situations investment trust after meeting new manager Dale Nicholls.
Mr Nicholls took the helm of the trust from former manager Anthony Bolton, who retired in April after four years running the trust, alongside his existing Fidelity Pacific fund.
The research company had rated the trust a ‘neutral’ under Mr Bolton, partly because of a lack of clarity surrounding how long he would run the trust and who would take it over from him.
Szymon Idzikowski, closed-end fund analyst at Morningstar UK, said it had met Mr Nicholls and dedided to stick with a ‘neutral’ rating.
“We think the transition from Mr Bolton to Dale Nicholls has been smooth,” he said.
“Mr Nicholls is an experienced investor who has built an impressive track record at Fidelity Pacific, however, that fund is a regional fund rather than a country-specific fund, and Mr Nicholls has yet to prove his process is replicable here.
“This is his first time in charge of a closed-end fund and we are also cognisant of an increased turnover in the Chinese team. Thus, we believe a neutral rating is appropriate at present.”
