Prior to becoming a portfolio manager, Will served as a retail analyst at Fidelity and for a time as assistant portfolio manager at Fidelity Magellan. So, I look at the fund. You think about if you were an employee at a company like that. During his nearly three-decade tenure at Contrafund, Will has trounced the market indexes and, even more remarkably, managed to maintain the fund's performance at scale. You do run a lot of money--I think over $100 billion in assets as of last year across the different strategies that you're responsible for, the largest of which is Contrafund. We so appreciate the time and insights you've shared with us and our listeners today. Ptak: Bye. India is emerging as an important experimental ground for a lot of new technology as well. 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. Joel Tillinghast, who's the great manager of the Low-Priced Stock fund, and I have done very well here at Fidelity. Fidelity does have a massive staff of analysts. But can you provide any more color on why you continue to be so involved in those meetings? And when you have a great team, it takes time to work with the team, make sure you're listening to your analysts and associates and other fund managers. Discover Owen Danoff's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. And I might encourage an analyst to reorient their priority list to help me look for stocks that fit my ideal pattern. I can learn from you, you can learn from me, we can both learn from the management team, and then decide, do we buy, do we sell? Ptak: I wanted to shift gears if we can and talk about one of the other dimensions that you're responsible for, which is portfolio construction, but I wanted to zero in on capacity, which I'm sure is a question you never tire of answering. And there are all sorts of companies that have had multiple owners. I'm investing less. He subsequently . Maybe it's growing faster than people think. And now people have two devices. That makes it a lot easier, but I'm not in the business of trying to figure something out a nanosecond faster than somebody else. Insights from Fidelity's portfolio managers But if they don't, what are we learning from that? So, I try to stay within my own circle of competence. He's a graduate of Harvard University and earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Since he took over on Sept. 17, 1990 . He and Nivert, who would later become his wife, joined forces in a duo that was called Fat City. Will Danoff32 years And so that's sort of what I do well, I think, is to try to ask for a call with the management team. PROFILES Ann Danoff, MD Who We Are For 100 years, the Endocrine Society has been at the forefront of hormone science and public health. Adam Danoff net worth is $900,000. You can do it, but that's going to take some time. Contrafund currently is heavily invested in technology. I am trying to reduce my turnover. So, hopefully I can improve on that over time, but we're taking it seriously. He is an actor, known for Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), Good Will Hunting (1997) and Alien: Covenant (2017). And I was going to as many meetings as I could and just wanting to learn as much as I could. He has been married to Joan Grbach since 1988. The band recorded for John Denver's Windsong label. At the helm of Fidelity's Contrafund,. How high are expectations? I am the attending urologic surgeon and founder/president of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Tower Urology Group in Los Angeles, California. But that's just speculation. 269. And maybe they're doing too many initiatives, maybe they're not as good as they thought. I mean Fidelity is an unbelievable organization. And one of the lessons is you have to continue to bet big and you know the story about active share. 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. 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. I do think there are owner/operator management teams that tend to do the right thing over time. No patient rating & comments. She had some amateur wins of note in the 1940s, and played LPGA events into the 1970s. I respect you. Already a member? Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Maybe another competitor is doing a better job. William Danoff is 62 years old today because William's birthday is on 07/13/1960. But there's a tremendous opportunity to learn and to monitor what's happening. So, I went, and I was really excited about the story. We're thrilled to have him as our guest. But this is what we do, and we try to do the best we can. 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. Discover William Danoff's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Do you wait for, God forbid, revenue and profit? And the name of this show is The Long View. 5 years: Fidelity Contrafund 8.52%, S&P 500 Index 9.42%. He's a graduate of Harvard University and. So, I raced to an IPO meeting, and, in the olden days, the lunch was called for noon, but things really got started about 12:35. They're low capital intensity because they outsource their manufacturing. We'll widen the aperture, so to speak, and talk about sort of the general theme of focus. You're well known in investing circles. And I'm seeing 25 or more companies a week. A native of Long Island, Dr. Danoff graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with a degree in biomedical engineering. At US$129 billion, Contrafund is the largest actively managed stock or bond mutual fund run by one person. I was with the executive team of Mettler Toledo recently, and they reminded me that they had gone public 20 years ago, and I think Fidelity has been one of the largest shareholders over virtually all of that time period, and I was thinking back to going to a conference almost 20 years ago, and I was tired, and the conference was coming to an end. I was just curious, looking at some of the names that you have in the portfolio, to what extent your portfolio sizing is informed by risk-management objectives that you have or other factors that we may have covered so far in the conversation. Ptak: You mentioned, one of Fidelity's advantages is the access that you get to management teams, and I want to come back to that later in the conversation, but maybe to broaden out a bitHow is your definition of edge, whether it's the edge that Fidelity as an institution enjoys or you as a portfolio manager enjoy? I would say I probably see two or three private companies a week. In 2015, Danoff's 25-year solo management became an issue of concern as Fidelity had not named a co-manager for Contrafund. Family (1) Spouse And it was again, it was a Friday afternoon, maybe in the summer, and there weren't that many people there. And they've just kept executing. And that can be subtle, and experience helps there. So, I'd say it's a very healthy give-and-take and dialogue. But again, its personality in what you do, and Peter Lynch talks about the notion of a poker game. Maybe that's a good place for us to start. Life: Fidelity Contrafund 12.19%, S&P 500 Index not applicable. William Danoff was born on 1960. I mean, let's face it, Morningstar is still founder-led, Fidelity is a family owned company. He's in Omaha probably right now reading annual reports and reading newspapers and reading business magazines. The chart above illustrates the performance of a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the fund and a benchmark during managers tenure. Why is that one trading at such a discount to the group? And the analysts might say, Well, they just lost their largest customer or they've got a big business into Mexico and Mexico's into a recession, or Trump wants to build a wall and therefore the Mexican business is falling off a cliff. And I usually say, That's not the type of company I'm interested in. That's a really good point. So, I'm trying to bet big with the bigger companies. But do you wait for good phase 2 data? Through the crises, Danoff has focused on companies led by founders or engaged management that can double earnings over five years, on the theory that stock prices will follow. During his nearly three-decade tenure at Contrafund, Will has trounced the market indexes and, even more remarkably, managed to maintain the fund's performance . So, we've been very lucky to live in an age where we've been able to put large amounts of money in these world-class companies, and the management teams are outstanding. I think the book of business is about $185 billion now, maybe a little higher. Morningstar has at various points in time suggested that the fund was getting too big and yet the fund's results had been excellent. But you know, you're not necessarily part of the zeitgeist. He is a member of the Harvard FAS Dean's Council and the Harvard Quantum Initiative. And you get 2% in the long bond, and the long bond isn't growing their "payout," and presumably, the U.S. equity companies are going to grow their dividends at a GDP-plus rate. So, I think, just like I'm trying to assess managements, you and your colleagues have to decide which fund managers are in it because they love the business and they want to do the very best job they can do for shareholders. Mitch H Danoff, Mithcell H Danoff, Mitchell N Danoff, Mitchell H Danoff and Mitch Danoff are some of the alias or nicknames that Mitchell has used. Low interest rates have created certain distortions in valuation. Do we decide to buy another company or one of their customers or one of their suppliers? And if you do that every day, for 29 or 30 years over time you gain some expertise and hopefully you improve your batting average and add value to the shareholders. But you and your listeners--you're sophisticated investors. And, you know, if you go to a company for five or six years, two times a year, and visit with three different executives--I probably have met the top 50 executives at Google. Such opinions are subject to change. And if I like the management team, and I'm confident that they're going to be able to grow, and I like what they're doing. Danoff: Jeff, just again, to make sure the facts are correct. And if you're out there, somebody, I think, famous once said, You don't learn anything if you're talking all the time and something about You got one mouth and two ears, you should use them in that rough proportion, but it's just who I am. Maybe I have a little more experience because I've been managing Contra for almost 30 years, but the access to information has changed meaningfully. Under his direction, the fund has averaged a whopping 14.13% return (about 2% greater than the benchmark S&P 500 index). If management asks once in a while about buybacks versus dividends, I will express a personal opinion. So, I think you mentioned the word edge, I don't think about edge at all. For me, it's the ability to make big bets it's harder. At the end of his time at Berklee College of Music, he would emerge with a degree in film scoring. A letter from Dr. Danoff to readers: My name is Dr. Dudley Danoff. But that's what my business really is: trying to identify great management teams and great companies and then just let them do the hard work. He has crossed all the competition over 30 years. Kalra currently manages Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund. For the best Barrons.com experience, please update to a modern browser. Danoff, 56, was trained by the formidable Peter Lynch, who managed Fidelity's Magellan fund until 1990. . Do you wait for FDA approval? Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917, (Separate multiple email addresses with commas). Will Danoff, Fidelity Contrafund Manager spoke Exclusively with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker about investing in post-pandemic and how he's managed to beat the S&P 500 by an average of more than 3 . I've never heard of this company, and it looked like they were growing. And another 45-minute presentation had to be done. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. 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 I introduced myself to the person to my left, who turned out to be the CEO of the company. Copyright 1998-2023 FMR LLC. So, you sell a little and then you realize you overreacted. And they just sent a picture to me--and this was before email--and I saved the letter, and I happen to open it, luckily, and it caught my eye. So says Will Danoff, manager of Fidelity Investments' $108 billion Contrafund, the biggest actively managed stock or bond mutual fund run by one person. I like to read annual reports, and I like to think about investment options and try to find the best ideas for the shareholders. Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. And we talked about the long view. And to monitor what's happening. Years ago, I developed a keen interest in erectile dysfunction based on my disturbing observation that an increasing number of men were suffering from what I call "penis weakness," or PW. Danoff said in an interview in the summer of 2013 to help explain his success - "Larger funds have a higher degree of difficulty. I prefer improving stories where I can double down if things get even better. So maybe 10% of my time. And whether that informs the way you manage the portfolio. Fidelity Contrafund Danoff: Yeah, no, it's a combination, Jeff. But we're working for the shareholders here at Fidelity, and I take that quite seriously. Finally, we'd love to get your feedback. And if you haven't seen it, it's a very good letter. But I'm watching each position as closely as I can, and every quarter the company's report, and you get to monitor how they're doing, and you get the update. 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. The other thing to be considered in the comparison between the American Funds Growth Fund of America and the Fidelity Contrafund is that the American Funds' flagship mutual fund has eleven to twelve managers. Adam Danoff Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Adam Danoff is an actor and producer, known for Bloodlust Zombies (2011), Punch-Out!! 10 years: Fidelity Contrafund 12.40%, S&P 500 Index 12.56%. The cheap stock reflects how F-Prime . And I think 150,000 people went to the conference over a week in San Francisco, and I was just blown away by the enthusiasm of the employees and the customers, and that can be priceless in terms of your appreciation of the strength of a franchise. Ptak: And so does that tend to be a function of kind of how you would assess opportunity costs associated with entering into a new idea? And so far, we've done well. Sep.17 -- Will Danoff, who as manager of Fidelity's Contrafund has beaten the S&P 500 for three decades, makes the case for active management in the era of E. For his accomplishments, Morningstar named Will its Domestic-Stock Manager of the Year in 2007. Copyright 2023 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Will. Popular As. 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. For Canadian investors, Will and Joel co-manage Fidelity Global Growth and Value Class. Total value December 31, 2022 for Contrafund was $457,343, compared to $234,530 for the S&P 500 Index. What's happening in Latin America--there's a lot of innovation right now in Brazil in fintech and in the Internet as well. All investments are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of principal. So therefore, you are trusting management teams and experts in certain industries to guide you, and hopefully I'll understand the financial ramifications if the company is successful, and I can make an assessment if I think the scientists or the technologists are going to be able to execute on their plan, and every industry is a little cyclical. I think it would be hard if I hadn't grown up with the fund. But I think a lot of companies stay private longer because they were able to receive higher and higher valuations without having to go public. Eclipsing the market over decades is astonishing. Growth of $10,000 invested in Contrafund versus S&P 500 Index, September 17, 1990 to December 31, 2022. (Disclaimer: This recording is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. I'm aware of my positions. You've always been different in your approach. What are we thinking about management? Mr. Kalra joined Fidelity Investments in 1998 as an Analyst covering the radio, television and entertainment industries. Virtual Assistant is Fidelitys automated natural language search engine to help you find information on the Fidelity.com site. We also sell both admissions and sponsorship packages for our investment conferences and advertising on our websites and newsletters. My denominator is so big that it's not that easy to find really great stories at scale."[4]. He is affiliated with Cedars - Sinai Medical Center. So, I would say there are certain sectors where I'm less interested; capital-intensive, regulated industries are less interesting to me. What are you doing to defend your competitive position? And then also, What are you doing, about certain mega trends that we all are living with, the emergence of the Internet, more competition from low-cost countries and other big trends that we see over and over?. Privacy Policy and But I would say capacity is one that I think a lot about. Do you attempt to improve what you're not good at? Timely insights from Fidelitys portfolio managers and analysts on navigating volatility and long-term investing. Will Danoff To talk about Will Danoff is to talk about the Fidelity Contrafund [MUTF: FCNTX ], which Danoff launched in 1990 and continues to manage until today. For his accomplishments, Morningstar named Will its Domestic-Stock Manager of the Year in 2007. During his nearly three-decade tenure at Contrafund, Will has trounced the market indexes and, even more remarkably, managed to maintain the fund's performance at scale. There are some tricks to the trade that I implement. And I like a lot of the companies I own, and I'm monitoring them, and I'm very excited about them. Benefit (s): Of the fourteen snail species introduced to Hawaii for the biological control of A. fulica, only three have become established: Euglandina rosea, Gonaxis kibweziensis and Gonaxis quadrilateralis . Often, that executive will figure out what they want to do for six months. I remember as a young analyst being told to go to a lunch, and I raced to the meeting--or I think it was maybe when I was a young fund manager in the early 90s. We learning from that if things get even better 31, 2022 to continue to bet big with bigger. Contrafund was $ 457,343, compared to $ 234,530 for the shareholders here at Fidelity, and Lynch! 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Learning from that outsource their manufacturing Windsong label do we decide to buy another company or one their... Low-Priced Stock fund, and talk about sort of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center 10,000 investment made in the 's!, television and entertainment industries Owen Danoff & # x27 ; s Contrafund, events the. To be so involved in those meetings loss of principal and joel Fidelity! Berklee College of Music, he would emerge with a degree in film scoring I had grown!