Fidelity International is one of the worlds’ largest asset managers and the investment manager of many leading investment trusts. As an independent company, an investment trust is required to host an annual general meeting (AGM), for its shareholders. Given the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Fidelity explored solutions to support their investment trust AGMs with virtual presentations, to keep shareholders engaged at this important time.

Fidelity selected Asset TV, to deliver the events for three flagship trusts: Fidelity China Special Situations PLC, Fidelity Asian Values PLC and Fidelity Special Values PLC.

How we supported Fidelity:

Hosting the virtual presentations delivered some immediate benefits over an in-person event format:

• • We were able to film the speakers remotely, so they were able to attend the meeting, without the substantial cost or disruption a physical presence would have required.
• • Pre-recording the key presentations meant we were able to overlay graphics and charts to improve the depth of information and the viewer experience.
• • Shareholders and stakeholders, who might normally not normally engage with the company, were able to watch the presentation and question the speakers, from anywhere in the world.

For each trust, the presentations were webcast separately (at different times and dates), to their investors and stakeholders, using the Virtual Conference Partnership platform.

The events followed a traditional company meeting style agenda:

• • Opening with an address from the chairman (pre-recorded), followed by presentations from the Trust’s portfolio managers (also pre-recorded).
• • Concluding with a live Q&A giving investors the opportunity to directly question the company chairman and investment manager.

Each event proved to be a great success, for the Trusts, their shareholders and Fidelity - engaging more shareholders, than would have been the case for a physical meeting and reaching a wider pool of stakeholders and potential investors.