Amid uncertain times, Fidelity® Hedged Equity Fund (FEQHX) and Fidelity® Hedged Equity ETF (FHEQ), both options-based strategies, may be a timely tool for defensive-oriented investors, as they seek to provide a degree of protection during periods of extreme market volatility, explains Portfolio Manager Eric Granat, who oversees the mutual fund alongside Zach Dewhirst and the ETF with George Liu, Shashi Naik and Anna Lester.
Differentiating itself from peers, Granat notes that Fidelity’s offerings are intentionally built to become more defensive as market conditions deteriorate, “so protection works harder when investors need it most,” he says.
“While many hedged equity strategies rely on option structures that can re-expose investors to downside after a set point, our approach is intended to add protection as markets move lower, helping to provide greater defense during sharp pullbacks.”
Rather than trying to predict market turns, the strategies seek to maintain ongoing downside protection that is actively managed as conditions shift.
When markets decline and volatility rises, the embedded hedge is designed to strengthen, helping cushion the impact of severe drawdowns that can derail long‑term investment plans.
“We designed these products to become more defensive the more markets go down, which is one of their defining features,” Granat says.
He explains that the strategies do not sell call options to fund their hedge, meaning they do not cap equity upside or trade away future growth potential. As a result, they remain positioned to participate when markets recover, differentiating themselves from many peers that sell calls to help pay for hedge protection.
As markets stabilize and recover, the portfolios can participate rather than being constrained by structural limits on gains,” Granat adds.
This framework may create modest drag during quieter or sideways markets, but that tradeoff is intentional.
Granat notes, “We accept that cost in exchange for maintaining protection through the most stressful market environments, when investor confidence is tested and emotional decisions are most likely.”
He emphasizes that the strategies are not intended to sidestep every market fluctuation or outperform in all conditions. Instead, Granat says, they aim to focus their protection on more-meaningful market declines – typically around 5% or greater – because those are the periods when investors tend to be most vulnerable to emotional decisions that can compromise long term outcomes.
“They’re designed for the moments that matter most: when markets break and protection needs to step in,” he concludes.
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Eric Granat is a portfolio manager and derivatives analyst within the Global Institutional Solutions (GIS) group at Fidelity Investments.
In this role, Mr. Granat serves as co-manager of the Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Hedged Equity Funds. He also serves as portfolio manager for the FIAM US Tail Risk Strategy, as well as other derivatives-based strategies, including the recently launched Fidelity Hedged Equity ETF (FHEQ), Fidelity Dynamic Buffered Equity ETF (FBUF), and Fidelity Yield Enhanced Equity ETF (FYEE). Additionally, he is responsible for the design and implementation of derivatives-based products and provides market analysis and customized derivative solutions to portfolio management teams to enhance portfolio performance and risk attributes.
Prior to re-joining Fidelity and assuming his current responsibilities, Mr. Granat was a portfolio manager and a trader at Rampart Investment Management. Previously, Mr. Granat worked as a principle analyst/programmer at Sun Life Financial. He has been in the financial industry since 1997.
Mr. Granat earned his bachelor of science degree in information systems from Salve Regina University and his master of business administration degree from Babson College. He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.