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Fidelity's best and worst
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July 14, 1999: 2:21 p.m. ET
Newsletter editor releases biannual rankings of fund giant's managers
By Staff Writer Martine Costello
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Robert Stansky continues to prove his stock-picking prowess as head of Fidelity Investments' flagship Magellan Fund, a new survey shows.
And Charles Mangum of Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund is the best manager you may never have heard of, said Jim Lowell, editor of Fidelity Investor newsletter.
Lowell publishes an analysis of the Boston fund giant's best and worst managers twice a year.
"Fidelity has an above average number of talented managers," Lowell said this week. "They're the best in the business."
Stansky took over at Magellan in 1996 as assets dropped by nearly $2 billion amid poor performance and widespread investor dissatisfaction. Since then the fund has been a top performer and grown into the nation's largest mutual fund. Assets are near a record $100 billion.
"Stansky could manage $200 billion," Lowell said. The $100 billion milestone is interesting only to see how far the fund has come, he said. There was a time when the entire industry had assets of $100 billion.
The rankings take into account the performance of all of the funds a manager has led in the past 10 years or in his career at Fidelity; as well as comparisons to benchmarks and other funds. The rankings also take into account risk.
Mangum scored even higher in the rankings than Stansky because he's delivered consistently higher returns over his career, Lowell said.
The top five managers are: Neal Miller of New Millennium Fund; Erin Sullivan of Aggressive Growth Fund; Mangum; Harry Lange of Capital Appreciation Fund; and Stansky. Miller and Sullivan delivered top returns but also had the most risk.
Mangum, who has led the Dividend Growth Fund since 1997, is the type of manager an investor should follow wherever he goes, Lowell said. The advantage is Mangum has delivered top returns with reduced risk.
"You hold this manager until he dies, no matter where he goes," Lowell said.
At the bottom of the list of stock fund managers, at number 26, is Rich Fentin of the Fidelity Value Fund; followed by Tim Krochuk of the TechnoQuant Growth Fund; Nick Thakore of the Trend Fund; and Adam Hetnarski of the Export Fund.
"It's unlikely a bad stock picker will suddenly turn around," Lowell said.
But Lowell recommends the value fund because cyclical stocks have turned around.
"I think this is a case (with the Value fund) where you buy a fund, not a manager," Lowell said.
The newsletter is not affiliated with the fund company. Efforts to reach someone at Fidelity for comment were unsuccessful Wednesday.
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