Star Fidelity stockpicker William Danoff to retire
Investor helped turn the Contrafund into one of the world’s biggest actively managed mutual funds
Fidelity star portfolio manager William Danoff plans to retire from the company at the end of the year, as one of the world’s best known stockpickers steps back from the market.
Danoff, who helped turn the Contrafund into one of the world’s largest actively managed stock mutual funds, has made bold bets over his career, helping the vehicle outperform the benchmark S&P 500 over the past 35 years.
“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to manage Contrafund for 35 years and help millions of Fidelity’s clients invest wisely and retire comfortably,” Danoff said in a statement. “I am grateful to the many real people out there who have entrusted their hard-earned savings with me over the decades.”
Danoff is among the last of a generation of famed stockpickers, which includes his mentor at Fidelity Peter Lynch, playing a pivotal role in how Americans invested in public markets.
He joined Fidelity in 1986 as an equity research analyst and in 1990 was named sole portfolio manager of the Contrafund. The fund has grown into a colossus for Fidelity, generating large management fees for the investment group.
The fund has invested heavily in US growth stocks, as well as businesses whose value Danoff believed were “not fully recognised by the public”. It invested in Facebook, now known as Meta, ahead of its initial public offering. The fund is often a critical player in IPOs, and has been a major backer of private companies before they float.
It counted the social media company as its largest holding at the end of 2025, with stakes in chipmaker Nvidia and investment-to-industrials giant Berkshire Hathaway as its biggest positions. It is also currently invested in AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Fidelity manages more than $360bn in Contrafund strategies, including the $176bn in its flagship retail fund. The main Contrafund has returned an average of 14.1 per cent a year under Danoff’s leadership, ahead of the 11.3 per cent a year gain generated by the S&P 500.
Management of the fund will be handed to Asher Anolic and Jason Weiner, who last year were added as co-portfolio managers of the business alongside Danoff.
Their appointments last year helped answer questions around succession planning at the fund, given Danoff’s long tenure running Contrafund by himself.
Weiner is a 35-year veteran of Fidelity, joining the business as an equity analyst focused on so-called growth stocks in 1991. Anolic was hired by Fidelity in 2008 to cover regional banks and pharmaceutical stocks as an analyst.
Bart Grenier, the head of Fidelity’s asset management business, said Danoff had “demonstrated resiliency in navigating some of the most complex and volatile market environments over four decades, delivering stability and value, while also mentoring generations of investment professionals”.