Fidelity Investments plans to unveil a new pitchman on Sunday in television commercials that feature Will Danoff, the unassuming portfolio manager of its behemoth $103 billion Contrafund. The last time Boston-based Fidelity used a portfolio manager in a television advertising campaign was nearly 20 years ago. The silver-haired Peter Lynch, however, was long retired from running Fidelity's Magellan fund when he teamed up with comedian Lily Tomlin in the 1998 ad campaign.
Lynch was already a household name as Fidelity's long-time pitchman. He averaged annual returns of 29 percent during a 13-year run at Magellan that ended in 1990.
The ads running Sunday are based on a true story about a letter Danoff received from a family during his early years running Contrafund. The family picked Danoff's fund to invest money for their son's college education.
Danoff received updates from the family over the years with letters and pictures of their son growing up.
The idea of the ad is that Danoff represents Fidelity's commitment to investors.
"It's also about helping people understand taking a long term view," said Brian Hogan, who oversees Fidelity's equity and high-income mutual fund assets.