Fidelity Contrafund (symbol FCNTX) is a

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...

operated and provided by

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...

. Its current manager is

William Danoff William Danoff (born 1959–60) is known for being a vice-president and portfolio manager of Fidelity Contrafund. At US $129 billion, Contrafund is the largest actively managed stock or bond mutual fund run by one person. Education and early car ...

, who has headed the fund since 1990. Contrafund's AUM ( assets under management) as of July 2015 total over 112 billion

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

. As of 2015 Contrafund was the second-largest actively-managed mutual fund in the US by assets, after AGTHX (Growth Fund of America, managed by

American Funds Capital Group is an American financial services company. It ranks among the world's oldest and largest investment management organizations, with over $2.6 trillion in assets under management. Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1931, it is priv ...

), and was the largest mutual fund of any type managed by an individual.

History

The fund's name stems from its original mandate in 1967: "the fund's mission was to take a contrarian view, investing in out-of-favor stocks or sectors." This strategy has changed since the 1990s to become a fund focused on

growth investing Growth investing is a style of investment strategy focused on capital appreciation. Those who follow this style, known as ''growth investors'', invest in companies that exhibit signs of above-average growth, even if the share price appears expens ...

in large companies, and the Contrafund's strong history of growth has led to its being "a stalwart of many

401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of their ...

plans". In 2015, Danoff's 25-year solo management became an issue of concern as Fidelity had not named a co-manager for Contrafund. Should Danoff become incapacitated without a co-manager or succession plan, Contrafund might face major redemptions from shareholders and lose its position in many large retirement plans which typically require at least three years of manager tenure.

References

External links

Fidelity Contrafund Product Page
at

Fund Prospectus
{{Finance-stub Stock funds Mutual funds of the United States