Fidelity's Flagship Magellan Fund Reopens

Fidelity's flagship fmagxMagellan Fund (FMAGX) has reopened to new investors for the first time in a decade.

Magellan, launched in 1963, is one of the oldest and best-known names in the mutual fund industry. It gained particularly prominence in the 1970s and 1980s under the stewardship of former manger Peter Lynch.

In 2007, Magellan posted an return of 18.8%, outperforming the S&P 500 by 13.31 percentage points. Over the past three years, it has posted annualized returns of 10.7%.

The fund closed to new accounts on Sept. 30, 1997, when it had approximately $65 billion in assets. At the time, Fidelity said its large size and huge cash inflows made it difficult for the managers to achieve a respectable performance. But the fund company said this week that, over the intervening decade, Magellan's shareholder base matured, and many have been redeeming shares as they reach retirement age or meet other financial goals. Some 85% of current $44.8 billion assets (as of Dec. 31, 2007) were earmarked for retirement.

"The Baby Boomer generation has now begun to retire and tap those dollars," said Walter Donovan, president, Equity Division, Fidelity Management & Research in a written statement. "We believe that the time is right to make Magellan available to a new generation of investors. We believe that generating new sales to offset future redemptions, will help stabilize the fund's cash flows and assist Harry in most effectively directing investment strategies for the benefit of fund shareholders."

Lange, who has managed Magellan Fund since October 2005, said a better balance of cash flows would give him the cash needed to pounce on attractive investment opportunities.

Magellan seeks capital appreciation by normally investing primarily in common stocks of domestic and foreign issuers. It has an expense ratio of 0.54%