1. Organization.
Fidelity Dividend ETF for Rising Rates, Fidelity High Dividend ETF, Fidelity Low Volatility Factor ETF, Fidelity Momentum Factor ETF, Fidelity Quality Factor ETF, Fidelity Small-Mid Multifactor ETF (formerly Fidelity Small-Mid Factor ETF), Fidelity Stocks for Inflation ETF, Fidelity U.S. Multifactor ETF and Fidelity Value Factor ETF (the Funds) are exchange-traded funds of Fidelity Covington Trust (the Trust) and are authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares. The Trust is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), as an open-end management investment company organized as a Massachusetts business trust.
2. Investments in Fidelity Central Funds.
The Funds invest in Fidelity Central Funds, which are open-end investment companies generally available only to other investment companies and accounts managed by the investment adviser and its affiliates. The Funds' Schedules of Investments list each of the Fidelity Central Funds held as of period end, if any, as an investment of each Fund, but do not include the underlying holdings of each Fidelity Central Fund. As an Investing Fund, each Fund indirectly bears its proportionate share of the expenses of the underlying Fidelity Central Funds.
The Money Market Central Funds seek preservation of capital and current income and are managed by the investment adviser. Annualized expenses of the Money Market Central Funds as of their most recent shareholder report date ranged from less than .005% to .01%.
A complete unaudited list of holdings for each Fidelity Central Fund is available upon request or at the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) website at www.sec.gov. In addition, the financial statements of the Fidelity Central Funds are available on the SEC website or upon request.
3. Significant Accounting Policies.
Each Fund is an investment company and applies the accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies. The financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), which require management to make certain estimates and assumptions at the date of the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Subsequent events, if any, through the date that the financial statements were issued have been evaluated in the preparation of the financial statements. The following summarizes the significant accounting policies of the Funds:
Investment Valuation. Investments are valued as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on the last calendar day of the period. The Board of Trustees (the Board) has delegated the day to day responsibility for the valuation of each Fund’s investments to the Fair Value Committee (the Committee) established by each Fund’s investment adviser. In accordance with valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board, each Fund attempts to obtain prices from one or more third party pricing vendors or brokers to value its investments. When current market prices, quotations or currency exchange rates are not readily available or reliable, investments will be fair valued in good faith by the Committee, in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board. Factors used in determining fair value vary by investment type and may include market or investment specific events. The frequency with which these procedures are used cannot be predicted and they may be utilized to a significant extent. The Committee oversees each Fund’s valuation policies and procedures and reports to the Board on the Committee’s activities and fair value determinations. The Board monitors the appropriateness of the procedures used in valuing each Fund’s investments and ratifies the fair value determinations of the Committee.
Each Fund categorizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to value its investments into a disclosure hierarchy consisting of three levels as shown below:
Level 1 – quoted prices in active markets for identical investments
Level 2 – other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, etc.)
Level 3 – unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions based on the best information available)
Valuation techniques used to value each Fund’s investments by major category are as follows:
Equity securities, including restricted securities, for which market quotations are readily available, are valued at the last reported sale price or official closing price as reported by a third party pricing vendor on the primary market or exchange on which they are traded and are categorized as Level 1 in the hierarchy. In the event there were no sales during the day or closing prices are not available, securities are valued at the last quoted bid price or may be valued using the last available price and are generally categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy. For foreign equity securities, when market or security specific events arise, comparisons to the valuation of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), futures contracts, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and certain indexes as well as quoted prices for similar securities may be used and would be categorized as Level 2 in the hierarchy. For equity securities, including restricted securities, where observable inputs are limited, assumptions about market activity and risk are used and these securities may be categorized as Level 3 in the hierarchy.
Futures contracts are valued at the settlement price established each day by the board of trade or exchange on which they are traded and are categorized as Level 1 in the hierarchy. Investments in open-end mutual funds, including the Fidelity Central Funds, are valued at their closing net asset value (NAV) each business day and are categorized as Level 1 in the hierarchy.
