Fidelity New Millennium ETF

The Fidelity New Millennium ETF (FMIL) is an actively managed fund that invests in global stocks that could benefit from long-term changes in the marketplace. It is one of Fidelity’s contributions to the new space of actively managed, non-transparent ETFs. Would-be issuers lobbied regulators for years for permission to introduce ETFs run by stock pickers that don’t disclose their holdings. Firms like Fidelity wanted to protect their secret sauce from prying eyes. Fidelity was among a handful of firms that won approval in 2019. It remains to be seen whether ETF investors will be as excited as issuers about the prospect. An investment in an active fund is ultimately a bet on the manager’s ability to outperform the market — something many stock pickers fail to achieve. That’s a big reason why the biggest winners in the ETF marketplace have been cheap, transparent index products. FMIL, which debuted in June 2020, is reasonably priced for active management, though it looks expensive in an industry dominated by ultra-low-cost index funds. Investors might compare FMIL performance to plain vanilla global index funds like the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT).