Market Upside Down: How to Invest Profitably in a Shrinking Economy

9. Absolute Return: Manage Risks and Build Wealth

Magellan Fund of Fidelity Investments was made a darling of mutual fund investors by its manager, Peter Lynch. The legendary stock picker achieved a feat that none of his peers could match: beating the S&P index every year, partly by doing deep-dive research in small cap stocks and by taking big positions in them. During the bull market of the 1980s and 1990s, the strategy paid off handsomely for its manager and investors. Thus, it became a consternation to Magellan’s 4.3 million investors and the media when the fund built up a large cash and bond position in 1995 to nearly one-third of its total assets of $56 billion. This change in strategy was taken by the new manager, Jeffrey N. Vinik, who ...