Lifetime Achievement
ANTHONY BOLTON President Investments Fidelity Investments

Probably the best-known fund manager in the UK, Anthony Bolton ran the highly successful Fidelity Special Situations Fund for 28 years, delivering an annualised return of more than 19%.

Anthony stepped back from day-to-day management of the fund in December 2007, by which time £1,000 invested with him would have turned into £147,000 since he started managing the fund in 1979.

The consistency of returns and unparalleled track record over nearly three decades has won Anthony a devoted following among private investors. At the fund’s peak, more than a quarter of a million private investors held a stake in the Fidelity Special Situations Fund, making it the most popular mutual fund in the UK and, at the time, the largest fund by some distance.

Anthony has arguably done more than many in the investment industry to popularise equity investment in general and the mutual fund as the vehicle to navigate equity markets in particular. He has been one of the most prominent advocates of equity investment against a backdrop of growing scepticism as world markets have lurched from trough to peak and back again.

His efforts have not been confined to the UK. For many years Anthony also ran some of the most successful European equity funds of their time, including the Fidelity Funds European Growth Fund, which grew to become the largest equity mutual fund in Europe on the back of its performance.

Alongside his role as mentor to Fidelity’s younger generations of portfolio managers and research analysts, Anthony continues to be a very visible champion of equity investment and of the contrarian approach to stock picking.

He has contributed a large part to a book about his investment style, which has been published in many countries, from Germany to Japan. He has plans to publish his own book early next year, based on his experience of running money for more than 30 years.