ALL IN A DAY

EMBRACING CHANGE, INVESTING WITH RESILIENCE

Ramona Persaud learned how to be adaptable at an early age. Having spent her formative years moving between Latin America, the Caribbean and the U.S., she realized that embracing change—and the discomfort that sometimes goes along with it—is the ultimate test of resilience.

Today, as a Fidelity portfolio manager handling several value- and income-oriented funds, Ramona applies that adaptability to another form of change: the ever-shifting dynamics of the markets. “I have a natural comfort with discomfort, which I believe really helps me as an investor,” she says. “There’s constant change—and frankly, investing in value-oriented stocks comes with a lot of discomfort, certainly in the last decade.”

Ramona’s investing goals are threefold. First, she intends to make a return—the objective of any portfolio manager. Next, she wants to produce a reasonable level of income for stakeholders. Lastly, she seeks strategies that provide downside protection, guarding her investments against market losses and volatility.

“My first belief is that valuation matters. What you get is very much related to what you’ve paid, and so valuations may drive that first goal of investment return,” she says. “I also believe in buying quality companies that tend to generate a lot of free cash flow, that are stable, and that are consistent and predictable.”

It’s this degree of cash flow that allows Ramona to pursue a steady stream of dividends for her funds’ stakeholders. Dividend-paying stocks are particularly important for investors nearing retirement, serving as a source of fixed income while providing a measure of stability.

Ramona casts her sights globally, working with an international research team, to find businesses that match her criteria. Together, their efforts can uncover companies capable of supporting her clients’ goals that might otherwise go overlooked—like a small telecom company in Kenya that offered the right mix of stability and cash flow.

“We have analysts working all over the world, finding these companies and investing before the market even has any awareness of them,” Ramona says. “We’re not just getting the return from these companies, but also the dividends that are generated.”

Meanwhile, her commitment to building downside protection into her investing process—already a core element of her funds—has been stress-tested by the volatility impacting the markets this year.

“If we were passive, we would have replicated the market’s dramatically negative return,” she says. “But by using research that was very close to companies, very close to data and highly analytical, it helped us to give us an edge that allowed us to invest with conviction.”

For Ramona, it’s this ability to positively affect her clients’ lives—whether by helping to protect their investments in uncertain times or helping them meet long-term financial goals—that sets Fidelity apart.

“I came to Fidelity because it was the best combination of being able to have an impact on and help others—and also be highly intellectually engaged for a very long time,” she says. “There is no moment in which I ever feel perfectly comfortable with what I know. I always feel as if there’s more to know and understand. That has remained true throughout the almost 20 years of being here, and that’s why I stay.”