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To: Dealer who wrote (25044)	12/14/2000 2:44:34 PM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Fidelity Reopens Two Funds Fidelity reopens two funds to stem outflows BOSTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Mutual fund powerhouse Fidelity Investments on Thursday said it would reopen to new investors two of its larger mutual funds to stem outflows that have hit them since they were closed in April 1998. The two funds are Contrafund, a $39.2 billion large capitalization blend portfolio that is down 7.09 percent year to date, and the $39.7 billion Growth and Income fund, another large blend offering that is off 0.04 percent for the year. ``While each of these funds has attracted close to $20 billion in new cash since we partially closed them in 1998, the closings, together with natural attrition, have created net outflows that we want to stem by reopening the funds to new shareholders,'' Robert Pozen, president of Fidelity Management and Research Co., Fidelity's mutual fund arm, said in a statement. ``I want to stress that our goal is not to grow assets in either fund, but rather to achieve a neutral cash flow in both funds. A fund is in a better position to perform well for its shareholders if it has neither a lot of cash flowing in, nor a lot of cash flowing out,'' Pozen said. Pozen left unstated the shrinkage of assets this year attributable to falling financial markets. This decline can be exacerbated by investors who often pull money out of funds or stop buying them during a market downturn. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 6.1 percent year-to-date through Wednesday's close and the Standard & Poor's 500 index is off 7.4 percent. The technology laced Nasdaq has fallen fully 30.6 percent in the same period. Contrafund's largest holding is Internet networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news), followed by Viacom Inc (NYSE:VIA - news), McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD - news), BP Amoco Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BP.L) and Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM - news). In 1999 the fund's return was 25 percent and in 1998, it was up 31.6 percent. Growth and Income's largest holding is General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - news) followed by Cisco, Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), Exxon Mobil and Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY - news). In 1999 the fund rose 10.4 percent after a 28.3 percent gain in 1999. Large cap blend mutual funds invest in a mix of growth and value stocks.