Mighty Magellan Drops to 5th Place

Fidelity Investment's Magellan, the nation's largest stock fund for more than a decade, has dropped to fifth place after investors withdrew an estimated $11.6 billion in the past 12 months, USA Today reports.

Magellan, whose star manager, Peter Lynch, drove it to a 2,700% gain from May 1977 through May 1990, had $57.4 billion in assets at the end of March, down 9% from $63.3 billion a year earlier.

The fund, which gained 3.14% in price appreciation in the 12 months ending March 31, took a beating to the S&P 500's 6.7% rise in the same period. The fund also lagged the average fund in its Lipper category in the past five years, sliding 19.7%, compared with the 16.3% decline for the average large-company core fund. 

"I just believe it's not a keeper," said Doug Fabian, editor of Successful Investing, an investment advisory newsletter and service. "You should hold funds that meet your expectations, and Magellan should at least be beating the index."

Another reason for its drop in rankings is that Magellan's outflows haven't been offset by inflows because the fund has been closed to new investors since 1997.

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.