Fidelity China fund set to soar

By JEFF PRESTRIDGE, MONEY EDITOR AT LARGE
Updated: 16:49 EST, 10 April 2010

Shares in new investment trust Fidelity China Special Situations are expected to go to an immediate premium when they start trading a week tomorrow.

Demand for shares in the trust, managed by Anthony Bolton, one of the country’s leading fund managers, will be driven by managers of leading index-tracking funds, who will have to buy into the trust as it will be in the FTSE 250.

On Friday, investment house Fidelity said it had raised £460 million in the fund. Although the amount was less than the £650 million Fidelity had hoped for, it still makes it the most successful investment trust launch for 16 years.

Investment star: Fidelity fund manager Anthony Bolton

Bolton, who built his formidable investment record in Britain in the Nineties and early 2000s by managing the Fidelity Special Situations fund, has already decamped to Hong Kong, from where he will run the fund. He will start investing the proceeds from retail and institutional investors in the next two months.

Some commentators, including hedge fund manager James Chanos of Kynikos Associates, believe China’s economy is heading for a crash, but Bolton is undeterred.

He said: 'My enthusiasm for China is long term - I am looking past any short-term concerns.'

China, he said, remains at ‘the early stage of its economic development’.