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US asset management titan Fidelity Investments® is to launch a suite of separately managed accounts, with the first round of offerings next year.

The firm, overseeing $8.0 trillion in client assets, said that its 2020 rollout will comprise five equity SMA models.

“Investors are increasingly looking for investment strategies that are tailored to their specific needs and personal preferences, and for many, SMAs can be an appropriate solution,” Judy Marlinski, president, Fidelity Institutional Asset Management®, said. “Advisors can use SMAs to create personalized investment strategies for their clients that can complement existing holdings or apply tax-efficient techniques.”

Explaining its thinking, Fidelity cited a report by Cerulli Associates, the research and analytics firm, which predicts assets that unified managed accounts will nearly double by 2022 to an estimated $1.85 trillion, up from $994 billion in 2018. And, SMAs already accounted for nearly half (47 per cent) of assets in UMAs in 2018.

The SMAs were developed based on existing Fidelity mutual fund and institutional strategies:

-- FA International Capital Appreciation SMA, which seeks to invest in a mix of high-quality, cyclical growth stocks and structural, steady growers, both benefiting from long-term mega-trends. (Portfolio managers: Sammy Simnegar; Zach Dewhirst, CFA; Yasmin Landy, CFA; Timothy Gannon, CFA); 
-- FA Growth Opportunities SMA seeks to invest in companies with resilient business models that are inexpensive relative to our expectations of their earnings per share in three to seven years. (Portfolio Managers: Kyle Weaver; Zach Dewhirst, CFA; Thomas Rollins, CFA; Michael Kim); 
-- FA Founders SMA seeks to invest in founder-involved companies with strong earnings growth potential that are trading at reasonable prices. (Portfolio managers: Daniel Kelley; Zach Dewhirst, CFA; James Jordan; Zhitong Zhang, CFA); 
-- FA Small Company SMA seeks to invest in small cap stocks with superior growth potential and financial characteristics that are trading at attractive valuations. (Portfolio Managers: Forrest St. Clair; Zach Dewhirst, CFA; Benjamin Treacy, CFA); 
-- FA Women’s Leadership SMA seeks to invest in companies that prioritize and advance women's leadership/development and have strong competitive "moats" that can result in durable earnings growth or in companies we believe can benefit from open-ended growth opportunities. (Portfolio managers: Nicole Connolly; Zach Dewhirst, CFA; Yasmin Landy, CFA; Michael Robertson.)

The SMAs will be available to advisors through broker-dealer firms, RIAs and managed account platform providers.