And being a very large fund has enabled me to have an unbelievably strong research department. Benchmark returns include reinvestment of capital gains and dividends, if any, but do not reflect any fees or expenses. William Danoff, better known by her family name William Danoff, is a popular American Financial professional. The market, as you know, has been unbelievably good. That's a really good point. But, Jeff, we have a lot of great fund managers at Fidelity that have smaller funds. 5847 Education: BA Hunter College, City University of New York, 1976. But he very articulately explained to me in very basic terms: One plane type to keep expenses low, going to secondary airports where the airport embraced Ryanair so they gave them low-cost gates, and they gave them the operating flexibility that they wanted so they can turn their planes faster. And hopefully small mid-cap companies can grow into bigger companies. And, you know, I would say this business is sort of like a poker game. What are they going to be doing? the largest U.S. mutual fund run by a single manager. Please see additional standard performance information. This has been a lot of fun. What are we thinking about management? Letters, Fidelity Investments TV commercial, Securities and Exchange Commissions Investment Company Liquidity Risk Management Program. But the real key is not just to hear the story but to follow up. But again, its personality in what you do, and Peter Lynch talks about the notion of a poker game. And do you expect that to ramp up further in the future? Will runs a number of Fidelity equity strategies, best known of which is Fidelity Contrafund, a mutual fund he has been managing since September 1990. But if they don't, what are we learning from that? Will runs a number of Fidelity equity strategies, best known of which is Fidelity Contrafund, a mutual fund he has been managing since September 1990. Indeed, Contrafund was recently home to more than $120 billion in assets and has ranked among the world's largest funds for many years. You know, you think about the great Warren Buffett. Do you have kind of a too hard pile--either types of companies or maybe industries that you just say, This has not historically worked out well for me. The subject line of the email you send will be "Fidelity.com: ", Will is dedicated to the long-term benefits of active management. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Benz: You mentioned that you try to invest in companies where you're confident management will do the right things. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Barry Ritholtz speaks with Will Danoff, who is the Contrafund portfolio manager at Fidelity. (Disclaimer: This recording is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. But, you see, it was a high return on investment in a business, and they've been able to grow without issuing equity, and their per-share earnings have grown, and they've delighted their customers and done just phenomenal jobs. Will Danoff is the Portfolio Manager of Fidelity Contrafund. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. Provide specific products and services to you, such as portfolio management or data aggregation. So, you know, I can monitor what's happening and review what's happening regularly. Morningstar and its affiliates are not affiliated with this guest or his or her business affiliates unless otherwise stated. How we use your information depends on the product and service that you use and your relationship with us. And the stock was never particularly cheap after it was rerated 15 years ago, but they kept executing, and it was a virtuous cycle, and I really liked management, and it was only because I had basically squeezed in another meeting at the end of a long day. On average, the Fidelity Contrafund has beaten the S&P 500 Index by 2.31% per year. Seems like, maybe that's a conscious choice you've made in how it is you're going to spend your time and focus as a portfolio manager. Danoff: Yeah, that's a really good question, Christine. Consistently outperforming the market is very hard. And, if I had to guess, I think that trend might slow down. Ann Danoff, MD Chief, Medical Service CPL Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center Department of Medicine 3900 Woodland Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19102 Office: 215-823-5800 ext. Our investment management business generates asset-based fees, which are calculated as a percentage of assets under management. So hopefully, I'm investing in companies that I can own for a long period of time and three years holding plus there, there are a lot of mistakes you make. And we talked about the long view. I am a full-time practicing urologic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. I'm tasting the soup in the kitchen every day and tweaking it, but generally, I like the taste and I'm aware of the taste profile that I have. Our guest this week is Will Danoff. He is an actor, known for Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), Good Will Hunting (1997) and Alien: Covenant (2017). And our real challenge or our job is to ask for a picture. But privates are, again--if you pick the right entrepreneur and you pick the right opportunity, and you have the expertise-- But they tend to be more time intensive, the companies tend to be less mature, management teams tend to be a little less mature. And, again, paying attention and monitoring out-of-favor groups and trying to identify I can remember when everyone hated the airline industry. Over the past year through February 11, Contra returned 27.6%,. Indeed, Contrafund was recently home to more than $120 billion in assets and has ranked among the world's largest funds for many years. We've been very lucky that in the last 10 years, these mega-cap companies have been able to continue to grow. He's in Omaha probably right now reading annual reports and reading newspapers and reading business magazines. I'd say a healthy research department is a joint effort. Fidelity does have a massive staff of analysts. 2. I tend not to do well when we have to make a quick pivot. Danoff: Yeah, Jeff and Christine. I mean, when I was an analyst, I can remember calling companies after they reported and pleading with somebody in the CFOs office to either read me the details of the income statement and balance sheet, or then to fax me the information quickly, but I do remember part of the job was to call the company and ask for a packet. All information you provide will be used by Fidelity solely for the purpose of sending the email on your behalf. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Sep.18 -- Will Danoff, Fidelity Contrafund Manager spoke Exclusively with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker about investing in post-pandemic and how he's managed to. Since he took over on Sept. 17, 1990 . Jeff Ptak is an employee of Morningstar Research Services LLC. Eclipsing the market over decades is astonishing. And the last 10 years with interest rates falling so much and the havoc wreaked by the global financial crisis has been more difficult, but I think I'm 100 basis points or 150 over for the last 10 years. Benz: So, you've mentioned circle of competence a couple of times. And maybe you have a king showing, and the other players have low card, so you can bet. Verify your identity, personalize the content you receive, or create and administer your account. Mitchell C. Indio, CA. And again, private companies are an opportunity to learn and, if they're the right private company, an opportunity to invest. And I only knew the name of the company. And there's no question that it's important even though I'm such a large fund to continue to plant seeds in the small-cap space with management teams and with companies that I think can grow into bigger, bigger companies and make a difference over time. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. Terms of Service apply. This article about an American businessperson born in the 1950s is a stub. Joel Tillinghast, who's the great manager of the Low-Priced Stock fund, and I have done very well here at Fidelity. And again, it goes back to who you are, and maybe certain money managers have to justify their higher fees by being out there pressing management, but you know, it's a very good point, Christine. He and Nivert, who would later become his wife, joined forces in a duo that was called Fat City. During his nearly 30-year tenure, the Fidelity Contrafund has outperformed the S&P 500 in 100% of rolling 10-year time periods. His office accepts new patients. I would say I probably see two or three private companies a week. Are we going to get sold again to some conglomerate or to some private equity firm?. You think about your own life: If you're strong in one area, you don't necessarily want to change, and managements sometimes have difficulty changing because they've been so successful. His name is Will Danoff. William Danoff (born 1959-60) is a vice-president and portfolio manager of Fidelity Contrafund, since 1990. For Canadian investors, Will and Joel co-manage Fidelity Global Growth and Value Class. It's like, oh my gosh, you know, XYZ is going to hurt this company. William Danoff is known for being a vice-president and portfolio manager of Fidelity Contrafund. Danoff first took up songwriting while he was a student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The doctor practices in an office or specialty that we currently do not survey. It's harder for smaller-cap companies in certain industries to gain traction because the larger companies have just very strong winner-take-most type competitive positions. But the ideas of delighting your customer don't go away, whether it's finding a new drug for a rare disease or developing a new software program, either for an enterprise or for a consumer. Life: Fidelity Contrafund 12.19%, S&P 500 Index not applicable. Again, I tend to want to invest with managements who I think are going to do the right thing over time, but there's a lot of trust there. Soundtrack: Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Los Angeles 8635 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA. There are some tricks to the trade that I implement. I just feel more comfortable with the idea of touching and feeling, interviewing management, trying ideally to go to as many company presentations or user conferences. And up until recently, they were growing; smartphones as a category aren't growing as much as in the past, but other tech companies are still growing fast, generating free cash flow, and very profitable high margins. 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