Finance

Fidelity’s Brazil Trade Highlights ESG World’s New Conflicts

Firm increased stake in Vale after deadly accident in 2019 as others unloaded the shares

Residents survey damage after a Vale dam burst in Brumadinho, Brazil, on Jan. 26, 2019.Photographer: Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg
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When shares of Brazil’s Vale SA suddenly crashed last year after a deadly dam collapse, Nick Price did what any fund manager might have done for a stock he already owned: He purchased more.

It was a profitable trade by traditional measures: The stock gained 24% in the year after the dam failed, outperforming global emerging-market benchmarks—a win for a Fidelity International fund manager with a record of beating his peers.