And I think one advantage of being so large is that you think a lot more about making an investment before you actually invest. I am the attending urologic surgeon and founder/president of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Tower Urology Group in Los Angeles, California. 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. Insights from Fidelity's portfolio managers It's really hard for me to get excited about it like you. Owen Danoff s birth sign is Scorpio. Order: Nymphaeales. He's a graduate of Harvard University and earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. So, we have this great opportunity, virtually every day, I can meet with executives from five or six companies, maybe a few less on a quiet day. And to monitor what's happening. And this letter was written by the parents of a young child, 1 year old boy. I'd say a healthy research department is a joint effort. 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. Excited to be here. Fidelity does have a massive staff of analysts. But when per-share earnings, per share free cash flow is growing, then I've got a lot of time. [1] At US $129 billion, Contrafund is the largest actively managed stock or bond mutual fund run by one person.[2]. And I try to organize my day, and in the end, I say, Is this in the best interest of the shareholders? Ptak: Well, I think that we could talk to you and ask questions of you for hours. Soundtrack: Kingsman: The Golden Circle. That's a really good point. This fund combines Will's focus on growth and investing in "best-of-breed" firms with Joel's focus on value, spec . So, I look at the fund. Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India is emerging as an important experimental ground for a lot of new technology as well. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? His office accepts new patients. This article about an American businessperson born in the 1950s is a stub. Permanent link Will Danoff, the stock picker behind the $100-billion (U.S.) Fidelity Contrafund - the world's largest actively managed fund run by one person - is now accessible to Canadian investors. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? Provide specific products and services to you, such as portfolio management or data aggregation. Bill Danoff Family Background & Career. Owen Danoff was born on 3 November, 1989 in Washington, D.C., United States. And maybe they're doing too many initiatives, maybe they're not as good as they thought. . And, again, this is an iterative process. How good is this management team?. 3 years: Fidelity Contrafund 5.76%, S&P 500 Index 7.66%. Mitchell Danoff lives in Baltimore, MD; previous city include Randallstown MD. What do you have on your list that would fit that bill even if it's more expensive than the average company in your group? So, it's that's sort of give-and-take. We so appreciate the time and insights you've shared with us and our listeners today. So, the question is, Why haven't you? Born on May 7, 1946 in United States of America, Bill Danoff started his career as Singer . Owen Danoff was born in Washington, United States. Are you content to really to try to hit for average, come what may? Will Danoff and Joel Tillinghast are veteran portfolio managers with different investment styles. Over that time, the fund has returned 13.7% a year, on average, beating the Our guest this week is Will Danoff. Los Angeles 8635 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA. And now people have two devices. William Danoff (born 1959-60) is a vice-president and portfolio manager of Fidelity Contrafund, since 1990. But can you provide any more color on why you continue to be so involved in those meetings? And that's one of the challenges--we talked earlier about size--that it's harder for me to make a new idea a meaningful bet. Often, that executive will figure out what they want to do for six months. I'm working for the shareholders. This is sort of who I am. 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. Sep 19, 2020, 5:13 AM. I think about trying to understand the facts, trying to use my accumulated industry and company knowledge to anticipate the future. So says Will Danoff, manager of Fidelity Investments' $108 billion Contrafund, the biggest actively managed stock or bond mutual fund run by one person. 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? the largest U.S. mutual fund run by a single manager. 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. So, the bar has risen for the Contrafund. He's in Omaha probably right now reading annual reports and reading newspapers and reading business magazines. Dr. Danoff has extensive experience in Urinary Conditions and Urinary Calculi & Removal. So, again, when the only part of the company that's growing is the number of shares outstanding, that's a concern, or you know, when losses are growing, that is almost a I don't have time for that we're finding. For me, it's the ability to make big bets it's harder. They have one child. Danoff said in an interview in the summer of 2013 to help explain his success - "Larger funds have a higher degree of difficulty. But I would say capacity is one that I think a lot about. He served as the portfolio manager assistant for Fidelity. William Danoff, who has led a long and successful career in finance, is a vice president and fund manager with Fidelity Investments. 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. Identification: Nymphaea odorata is an aquatic perennial plant. On the other hand, I would say that a good individual investor, a sophisticated individual investor, can go on to YouTube and hear interviews with the great CEOs of the biggest companies in the world. And they were a relatively small player with a differentiated product and mostly selling balances to labs. And I introduced myself to the person to my left, who turned out to be the CEO of the company. And that often is hard for managements that have done so well. Benz: You can follow us on Twitter @Christine_Benz. Total value December 31, 2022 for Contrafund was $457,343, compared to $234,530 for the S&P 500 Index. Indeed, Contrafund was recently home to more than $120 billion in assets and has ranked among the world's largest funds for many years. But historically, I have found that if you can identify people that you trust, that are extremely knowledgeable about their industry and enthusiastic about their company, and in some cases, ideally, are founders of the companyand, therefore, the company is an expression of who they are and what they are and they really want to grow the company--then that's the perfect situation, especially if it's a good business and they have a differentiated product offering and a great value proposition. And other investors may say, I'd want to crack the whip and push management faster or harder. That tends not to be what I do. Danoff: Yeah, no, it's a combination, Jeff. It is a violation of law in some jurisdictions to falsely identify yourself in an email. His name is Will Danoff. So, you know, I do have a lot in technology. You're different. [2] Contents 1 Education and early career 2 Fidelity Contrafund 3 See also 4 References Education and early career [ edit] The manager of a $132 billion mutual fund made two of his best investments because he met with the bosses of a now-defunct search engine, and received a surprise pitch from Elon Musk. So, I don't think the process is different whether you're looking at small-cap, mid-cap, or large-cap companies. And I might encourage an analyst to reorient their priority list to help me look for stocks that fit my ideal pattern. But, you know, what we've all learned is we want to make sure that the management team is particularly special. So, it's a little easier. And that certainly has been a modest change in the life of a mutual fund manager and a change in the mutual fund industry in the last decade or so. Why? Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. But capacity--you know, I'm my degree of difficulty is harder than a smaller fund. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 60 years old? Christine Benz: And I'm Christine Benz, director of personal finance for Morningstar, Inc. Ptak: Our guest this week is Will Danoff. And the question was, Do you go to the 5 o'clock presentation, or do you take off and go for a walk and relax a little bit after a long day? Danoff received 46,154 Alibaba shares that cost $3,432, or 7 cents apiece, according to an annual report filed by his family's private charitable foundation. 14. Life: Fidelity Contrafund 12.19%, S&P 500 Index not applicable. Indeed, Contrafund was recently home to more than $120 billion in assets and has ranked among the world's largest funds for many years. And so far, we've done well. All Rights Reserved. On average, the Fidelity Contrafund has beaten the S&P 500 Index by 2.31% per year. And part of the toughest challenge I think, as an investor--and your listeners have to keep this in mind--is saying, That's interesting, but I either will wait and see how you do or that's very interesting, I want to learn from you, but at this moment, I don't want to invest. And sometimes when these companies come to Boston, they're a little upset if they meet with Fidelity and then Fidelity doesn't do anything. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Stock values fluctuate in response to the activities of individual companies, and general market and economic conditions. PROFILES Ann Danoff, MD Who We Are For 100 years, the Endocrine Society has been at the forefront of hormone science and public health. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. How has that changed in the last few decades in which you've been running money? I don't whip the fund around. Will joined Fidelity as an equity research analyst in 1986 after graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Fidelity Contrafund versus the S&P 500 index over five periods: 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, and life of the portfolio. I tend not to do well when we have to make a quick pivot. These products and services are usually sold through license agreements or subscriptions. 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. Ami Kuan Danoff has held many leadership roles in finance, including vice president at Putnam Investments, but most recently has dedicated her time to philanthropic endeavors. That includes . So, I find that to really engage one as an investor, you need to engage with managements and then also to engage with analysts and other fund managers you have to be an analyst. I mean, it's great, and clearly, culture starts at the top, but when you have access to people who are making the decisions, who are actually out in the field seeing the competitive response or knowing the challenges of delighting the customer, that can really, really help, and I think larger funds like Contrafund have that advantage to do more in-depth research. [1] He is known for " Afternoon Delight ", which he wrote and performed as a member of the Starland Vocal Band, and for writing multiple hits for John Denver, including "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Over the past year through February 11, Contra returned 27.6%,. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate, so investors may have a gain or loss when shares are sold. I think it would be hard if I hadn't grown up with the fund. 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. Opinions expressed are as of the date of recording. Since he took over on Sept. 17, 1990 . In 2007, Morningstar named him ``Domestic Stock Manager of the Year``. Danoff: That's a really good question, Christine. For Canadian investors, Will and Joel co-manage Fidelity Global Growth and Value Class. Low interest rates have created certain distortions in valuation. William Thomas Danoff (born May 7, 1946) is an American songwriter and singer. In addition to managing Contra, Mr. Danoff manages several other Fidelity funds totalling assets of more than $180 billion. Will Danoff, manager of the $230 billion Fidelity Contrafund, told Bloomberg that there's a "demographic issue" for mutual funds: Gen Z is not . Taffy Nivert. Copyright 2023 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The private market has grown and, one could argue, became very overheated, let's say, in the 2017-2018 time horizon. During Danoff's 30-year tenure, the Fidelity Contrafund has outperformed the S&P 500 in 100% of rolling 10-year time periods; it has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by an average of 3.21 percentage pointsRead More What's happening in Latin America--there's a lot of innovation right now in Brazil in fintech and in the Internet as well. Important legal information about the email you will be sending. Danoff first took up songwriting while he was a student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. https://www.barrons.com/articles/fidelitys-will-danoff-looks-back-on-30-years-at-contrafund-51601679688. Fidelity Contrafund's longtime star manager on why he runs money, how his definition of "edge" has evolved, the best way to engage with analysts and company management, and more. And do you expect that to ramp up further in the future? . The subject line of the email you send will be "Fidelity.com: ", Will is dedicated to the long-term benefits of active management. But at the time, people weren't paying attention to airlines and Europe was sort of a no growth, low growth space. Verify your identity, personalize the content you receive, or create and administer your account. Sign In. One--you have to make sure that you understand the threats to your existing holdings, but also, there's usually a pivot point where a concept then turns into a profitable business. MD The Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1980. Thank you again, so much, for joining us on The Long View. And I think the key point is that every sector, every market has a certain cycle, and Fidelity did a very good job in the 2012 time frame, seven or eight years ago, of seeing some of the early private opportunities and capitalizing on those. 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. And I think that all experienced investors have made mistakes and are more aware of when they're approaching thin ice. 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. There are obviously trade-offs. The band recorded for John Denver's Windsong label. Jeff Ptak is an employee of Morningstar Research Services LLC. 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