By Jason Corcoran in Moscow

Fund management giant Fidelity International had launched a new emerging markets select fund to target institutions seeking direct exposure to the boom in emerging markets.

The fund, which was formally  launched on July 29, is being managed by Ravi Mantha from the firm’s Boston offices. It will invest primarily in the shares of companies in developing countries, including those in Africa, the Indian sub-continent, Latin America, South East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. There is no policy to restrict investment to particular economic sectors.

Fidelity clients had previously accessed emerging markets through global equities, where its managers would have had limited exposure at times to emerging equities.

Mark Miller, a director of UK institutional business at Fidelity, said the fund launch was in response to client demand. He said: “Last year and early this year risk was off the table. The correlation between emerging and developed markets is gotten closer in recent months and pension funds are thinking of emerging markets in terms of long-term strategic allocation.

Fidelity said it had recently won a number of global equity and emerging market equity mandates for UK local authority pension schemes.

The fund will have 60 to 100 holdings and  and will have the MSCI Emerging Markets Index as its benchmark.

By Jason Corcoran in Moscow Fund management giant Fidelity International had launched a new emerging markets select fund to target institutions seeking direct exposure to the boom in emerging markets....