Fidelity International, the global asset manager, has announced that Sam Morse will take over the management of the Fidelity European Values Fund at the start of next year.

The current manager, Sudipto Banerji, was appointed portfolio manager of the Fidelity Global Opportunities Fund in October and will return to being a full time member of the firm’s global equity team. Banerji and Morse will work together until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition, Fidelity said.

Morse has managed the Fidelity European Fund since the start of this year and Fidelity says it views now as a good time to bring its open- and closed-ended European vehicles under the same manager. Previous incumbents Anthony Bolton (1991-2000) and Tim McCarron (2001-2008) held similar management responsibilities.

“Sam has a strong stock selection process which we believe is closely aligned to what shareholders expect from their investment in the company. We hope that further improved performance and signs of better sentiment towards continental European equities will also be reflected in a narrowing of our discount,” said Humphrey van der Klugt, chairman of the European Values board.