Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Might Switch Benchmarks

Fidelity Investments is considering switching the benchmark for its Blue Chip Growth Fund from the S&P 500 Index to the Russell 100 Growth Index, The Wall Street Journal reports. Fidelity is putting the matter to a shareholder vote in May.

I

f the fund makes the switch, it could affect its fees, as they are tied to performance.

"We believe using the Russell 1000 Growth Index as the primary performance benchmark will help communicate to investors more clearly the fund's large-cap growth focus," said Fidelity spokeswoman Sophie Launay.

She added that Fidelity did not know how the switch will affect its fees, but Morningstar analyst Dan Lefkovitz indicated it would probably work in Fidelity's favor since the S&P 500's trailing five-year return is 4.33% versus the Russell 1000 Growth Index's 1.49% return. The fund itself delivered a return of 1.3% in that period.

In addition, the proxy will ask shareholders to permit the fund's board to change the fund's benchmark in the future without having to put the matter to a vote.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.