Fidelity India Active ETF (FIIN) — Review & Analysis

FIIN is the more expensive option in the India category at 1.20% p.a., reflecting its actively managed structure. The fund is sub-advised by Fidelity's India team — one of the largest dedicated India research teams of any global asset manager. Compare FIIN across the India universe on our India ETF page.

The case for active India is stronger than for active developed markets. India's market is broader and less efficiently researched than the US or Europe — there are over 4,000 listed companies in India versus the 50 inside the Nifty 50 index. Active managers like Fidelity can fish for opportunities in mid and small caps that passive funds like NDIA and IIND by definition cannot access — Indian SMID-cap stocks have historically delivered stronger returns than large caps, though with much higher volatility.

The 1.20% p.a. fee is a substantial hurdle to clear. Active funds need to outperform passive alternatives by their fee differential just to break even — FIIN must beat NDIA (0.69%) by at least 51bp annually after costs to justify its higher fee. Globally that's a difficult bar, though India is one of the markets where active managers have historically performed better than in developed markets, partly because of inefficiencies in smaller-cap segments.

FIIN is best suited to investors who specifically want active management in India and have confidence in Fidelity's research process. The full track record of the underlying Fidelity India strategy is publicly available through the manager. The fund is unhedged for currency. For the wider active-vs-passive question, our active vs passive ETFs guide covers the data on when each approach has worked across markets.