For the past several years, market performance has become increasingly concentrated among a small group of technology companies, driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI). While this environment has benefited investors with exposure to these stocks, it has also heightened concerns around concentration, diversification, and downside risk.
Join us for a discussion with Ramona Persaud and Tom Hense, moderated by Naveed Rahman, as we explore how dividend-paying equities can help diversify beyond today's dominant market themes, offering a differentiated source of return, potential inflation resilience, and a more balanced approach to equity allocation.
Learn more about:
• How dividend-paying equities can help reduce reliance on current AI-driven market leadership and contribute to a more balanced asset allocation.
• Why dividend investing is about more than yield, and how active management can help balance income, growth, quality, and valuation, while identifying companies with sustainable dividend potential.
• How equity income strategies have historically performed during inflationary periods and the role they can play alongside traditional fixed income in a diversified portfolio.
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Ramona Persaud is a portfolio manager in the Equity division at Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments is a
leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits
outsourcing, and other financial products and services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals.
Prior to assuming her current role, Ramona held various other roles within Fidelity, including portfolio manager of Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Dividend Growth Funds and assistant portfolio manager of Diversified International Fund, based in London. She was also a Select Banking portfolio manager and research analyst, and a Select Construction and Housing portfolio manager and research analyst. Before joining Fidelity, Ramona worked as an analyst at both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Ramona joined Fidelity in 2003 and has been in the financial industry since 1996.
Ramona earned her Bachelor of Science from Polytechnic Institute at New York University and her Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas Hense is a chief investment officer in the Equity division at Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments is a
leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits
outsourcing, and other financial products and services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals.
In this role, Thomas is responsible for serving as the chief investment officer for the Small Cap, Mid Cap, Value, and Income teams.
Prior to assuming his current role, Thomas was the group chief investment officer of Fidelity’s High Income division from 2008 to 2018. Before that, he served as portfolio manager for Fidelity Small Cap Value Fund and Fidelity Advisor Small Cap Value Fund. Previously, he managed the Small Cap Core discipline as a member of the Institutional Equity group and served as co-director of Equity Research for the Equity group. Thomas also served as director of High Income Research and as an analyst in the High Income group.
Thomas has been in the financial industry since joining Fidelity in 1993.
Thomas earned his Bachelor of Arts from University of St. Thomas and his Master of Business Administration from University of Chicago.
Naveed Rahman is an institutional portfolio manager in the Equity division at Fidelity Investments. Fidelity
Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing, and other financial products and services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals.
In this role, Naveed serves as portfolio manager on several income-oriented and value-equity separately managed accounts and is a principal liaison for portfolio management to a broad range of current and prospective clients and internal partners. Naveed’s focus is on value and income equity. He is a member of the investment management team, maintaining a deep knowledge of portfolio philosophy, process, and construction, assisting portfolio managers and their CIOs in ensuring portfolios are managed in accordance with client expectations, as well as contributing to
investment thought leadership in support of the team.
Prior to assuming his current role, Naveed worked as a vice president at Fidelity from 2005 to 2011. Before that, he was a director at Fidelity Strategy & New Business Development from 2003 to 2005. Before joining Fidelity, he was a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group from 1996 to 2002.
Naveed joined Fidelity in 2003 and has been in the financial industry since 1996.
Naveed earned his Bachelor of Arts from Yale College and his Master of Business Administration from Stanford
University’s Graduate School of Business.
Professional Designations:
FINRA Series 7 License, FINRA Series 63 License
Pranay Kirpalani is a research analyst and portfolio manager in the Equity division at Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing, and other financial products and services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals.
In this role, Mr. Kirpalani is responsible for providing research and recommendations on several stocks across Global Infrastructure. Additionally, he serves as portfolio manager of Fidelity Infrastructure Fund, Fidelity Select Utilities Portfolio, Fidelity VIP Utilities Portfolio, and Fidelity Advisor Utilities Fund. He is also a co-manager of Fidelity Telecom and Utilities Fund, FIAM Small/Mid Cap Core Commingled Pool and FIAM Small/Mid Cap Core Utilities Sub Portfolio. As a member of Fidelity’s Stock Selector Large Cap Group, he is also responsible for managing the utilities sleeves for various diversified sector-based portfolios.
He has been in the financial industry since 2013.
Mr. Kirpalani earned his Bachelor of Arts in economics from The University of Pittsburgh
Ford O’Neil is a portfolio manager in the Fixed Income division at Fidelity Investments*. Fidelity Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing, and other financial products and services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals.
In this role, Mr. O’Neil serves as the co-lead manager for Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Strategic Dividend & Income Funds, Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Strategic Income Funds, Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Strategic Real Return Funds, Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Sustainable Core Plus Bond Funds, Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Total Bond Funds, and Fidelity VIP Strategic Income Portfolio. He also co-manages Fidelity and Fidelity Advisor Multi-Asset Income Funds, Fidelity Total Bond ETF, Fidelity VIP Investment Grade Bond Portfolio, and various institutional taxable bond portfolios.
Prior to assuming his current position in August 1992, Mr. O’Neil was an analyst in Fidelity’s Asset Management division. In this capacity, he was responsible for the electric utility sector.
Before joining Fidelity in 1989, Mr. O’Neil was an associate in the Investment Banking department at Advest, Inc., where he advised corporations on capital raising. He has been in the financial industry since 1985.
Mr. O’Neil earned his Bachelor of Arts in government from Harvard College and his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
