Special situations: not so special after all

Looking down Bestinvest's 'most dumped funds of 2007' list, it's little surprise to see Fidelity's two Special Situations funds vying for the top spot. It's clear that former manager Anthony Bolton was a far bigger draw than the philosophy behind the fund itself.

Looking down Bestinvest's "most dumped funds of 2007" list, it's little surprise to find Fidelity's Special Situations and Global Special Situations Funds vying for the top spot. Once run as a single fund by star manager Anthony Bolton, his retirement from hands-on control led to the split into two separate funds, one UK-focused, the other with a global remit.

His exit also triggered an almost inevitable outflow of money. The UK fund saw a £345m net outflow in 2007, the global one £575m. That's not to detract from the merits of either of Bolton's successors, Sanjeev Shah and Jorma Kohonen. But what it makes clear is that investors bought the Fidelity Special Situations Fund because it was run by Bolton, who returned 312% in the ten years to June 2006, rather than the fact that they liked the investment philosophy behind the fund itself.

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