Fidelity Loses Star International Manager

April 17, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fidelity lost one of its stars yesterday, as the mutual fund industry continues to lose talented managers to the allure of running their own firm.

The most recent casualty was Gregory Fraser, manager of the $6.5 billion Fidelity Diversified International Fund, a fund he ran since 1991. Fraser has reportedly resigned to start his own management organization, according to CBS MarketWatch.

The fund was one of the top 15 international fund performers over the past 5 years, running up annualized returns of 12.4% over the past five years, according to Lipper.

Ripple Effects

Replacing Fraser is William Bower, who has managed the $1.1 billion Fidelity International Growth & Income since 1998. Former Fidelity Worldwide manager Penelope Dobkin succeeds Bower in his former position, while Richard Mace, group leader of international funds and manager of Fidelity Overseas will stand in at Dobkin’s post at Worldwide.

As the International Growth & Income manager, Bower racked up a gain of 53.7% in 1999 and a loss of 14.1% in 2000.

Yesterday Fidelity also said that Tim Krochuk of the TechnoQuant Growth and Small Cap Selector funds has left the firm. John Chow will take over the TechnoQuant Growth, while James Harmon will lead Small Cap Selector.

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