Fidelity Global Dividend: May 2026 fund update

• Dan Roberts is a highly experienced equity income investor and uses a clear and effective process

• The fund is diversified across many countries

• The fund has provided superior returns to peers over the long term

• This fund features on our Wealth Shortlist of funds chosen by our analysts for their long-term performance potential

How it fits in a portfolio

The Fidelity Global Dividend fund aims to deliver long-term income and growth, while trying to provide some shelter in weaker markets. The fund invests in companies all over the world, including in higher-risk emerging markets. The fund’s manager focuses on quality and is mindful of valuations – what a company’s share price should be compared with its prospects. The fund could provide international diversification to an income-focused investment portfolio or work well alongside ‘growth’ orientated funds.

Manager

Dan Roberts, the fund’s lead manager, is a seasoned investor with 24 years of experience. Prior to joining Fidelity, he worked at Gartmore and Aviva Investors managing UK and European income funds. He has managed this fund since launch in 2012. It’s invested using the same style as his previous funds, but with the added ability to invest in companies from across the world.

Roberts carries out a lot of his own analysis, but he can make use of Fidelity’s large pool of analysts. He also benefits from the idea sharing and challenge provided by Fidelity’s Equity Income team.

Tristan Purcell was appointed co-manager in December 2025, after serving as assistant manager since October 2024. Purcell joined Fidelity in 2017 and spent seven years as a research analyst covering European capital goods and US insurance companies. We think the appointment of Purcell is a positive evolution of the team structure.

Process

Roberts entered the investment industry around the time of the Dot-com crash in the early 2000s, so he’s seen first-hand the risk of share prices rising too far without the support of companies growing their earnings, making them ‘overvalued’. It means he pays close attention to valuations and he doesn’t buy shares at a price he believes is above the company’s future growth potential.

The investment approach focuses on individual company analysis, paying close attention to financial accounts to ensure each company has the ability to pay dividends. The manager also assesses how a company has fared during different market conditions. Roberts favours companies with simple business models, sensible management teams, and healthy balance sheets, whilst avoiding companies with too much debt.

The fund is made up of 40-60 investments, which tend to be larger companies. While Roberts can invest in higher-risk smaller companies, he doesn’t do so often. European countries, such as Germany and France, make up the largest portion of the fund, while 14.9% is invested in the UK. Compared to the fund’s benchmark, there’s much less invested in the US. The fund is diversified across a number of sectors, with a preference for companies that are less exposed to events in the wider economy.

In terms of income, Roberts focuses on the long-term durability and growth of dividends, rather than high dividends now that may not grow further or be cut. He invests in some lower-yielding companies if he thinks it will grow over time. The fund targets an overall yield of at least 25% more than the benchmark and currently yields 2.30%. Remember, yields aren’t a reliable indicator of future income and income isn’t guaranteed.

Over the last 12 months, Roberts has kept true to his strict valuation approach, including selling companies he believed had become expensive, such as financial services company Singapore Exchange. Other investments sold include US software company Paychex and French pharmaceutical business Sanofi.

Roberts believes that valuations in many areas of the market have reduced and this has presented opportunities. Recent additions to the fund include Japanese firm Shin-Etsu Chemical, Siemens Healthineers in Germany, and US drug manufacturer Zoetis.

Note that charges are taken from capital, which can increase the yield but reduces the potential for capital growth. Roberts has the flexibility to use derivatives in this fund, which adds risk if used.

Culture

Fidelity was founded in 1969 and is a global investment manager. The company remains privately owned, which means its managers can focus on the long-term interests of investors rather than short-term shareholder demands. That’s helped the firm develop an investment-focused culture, where investment ideas are openly discussed and debated, and information is shared amongst the firm’s various teams.

The company's scale means investment teams are well-resourced and fund managers are well-incentivised. We think it's positive that all Fidelity fund managers are incentivised based on the longer-term performance of their funds as this aligns their interests with those of investors.

ESG integration

Fidelity has committed to improving its approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in recent years. The firm developed a structured engagement program which allows it to be more systematic in its engagement on environmental and social issues, became involved in more collaborative engagement initiatives, and introduced ESG data into fund managers’ quarterly reviews to raise awareness of ESG issues. The firm also bolstered its dedicated ESG team, which writes regular ESG reports on companies owned by Fidelity fund managers. The firm votes where it’s possible to do so and quarterly voting reports are posted online, complete with rationales for abstentions and votes against management.

In June 2019, Fidelity launched its own proprietary ESG ratings tool. It scores thousands of companies based on their ESG credentials on a forward-looking basis, with investment analysts tasked with the job of ensuring the ratings are up to date. The ratings system was later updated to include an assessment of each company’s ability to manage negative externalities. Fidelity also developed a climate rating which highlights companies where engagement is most necessary if the firm is to achieve its aim to halve portfolio emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

While Fidelity has made strides forward at the firm level, we don’t think this has fully fed through to the fund level. Although there is plenty of ESG information available to all Fidelity fund managers, we’re not yet convinced they all put it to full use.

This fund has a target for at least 50% of assets to be invested in companies with a favourable ESG rating and Roberts comfortably meets this target. However, the fund isn’t managed to a sustainable mandate.

Cost

The fund is available for an annual ongoing charge of 0.91%. The HL platform fee of up to 0.35% per year also applies, except in the HL Junior ISA, where no platform fees apply.

We recently made some changes to the amount clients pay to invest with us. Find out more about these changes.

Performance

Since the fund launched in 2012, the fund has returned 348.13%* with income reinvested and performed better than the average fund in the IA Global Equity Income, which returned 259.90%. Past performance isn’t a guide to future returns.

That said, returns haven’t kept up with its benchmark - the MSCI AC World Index (MSCI ACWI) – which has returned 430.27%. That’s true of most global equity income funds which haven’t tended to perform as well as the broader global market in recent years. The US market, particularly the technology sector and other high-growth areas, have performed well. Companies in these parts of the market don’t tend to pay as much in the way of dividends, so many global income funds invest less in these companies. Instead, many global equity income funds have focused on achieving a persistent and growing income.

Over the 12 months to the end of April 2026, the fund returned 14.99%, trailing the 29.31% returns of the benchmark and 19.70% for the average fund in the IA Global Equity Income sector. Roberts’ more conservative approach and focus on high-quality companies means the fund can perform differently to peers at times. Historically, it’s performed better than peers in falling markets but tended not to keep up in a rising market.

That said, performance was also negatively impacted by a number of industrials companies in the fund. This includes UK firm RELX and Dutch business Wolters Kluwer, which were impacted by worries that their business models would be affected by AI adoption, and Unilever and US insurance business Progressive Corp.

Companies that contributed positively to performance included Asian technology giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, UK supermarket chain Tesco, and French electrical component manufacturer Legrand.

We believe the fund benefits from the experience of a well-resourced manager and has the potential to deliver good returns for investors over the long term, but this isn’t guaranteed. The fund is likely to lag the broader global market when the US and high-growth sectors are performing well, but the reverse is also true. We expect it to provide more resilient returns when markets are volatile.