Kellogg grad ranked among world's best investors

By Matt Golosinski

Expert stock-picker Joel Tillinghast '83 has scored a new honor: SmartMoney says he's one of the best investors on the planet.

The Kellogg alum has beat the market consistently since 1989, the year he launched Fidelity Investments' Low-Priced Stock Fund. The magazine's July 2009 edition noted that Tillinghast's fund outpaced the broader market by 9 percent during the first half of the year, in part because of his team's penchant for thorough research that identifies under-the-radar winners.

Tillinghast credits his perennial success to a strong analytical team, deep research and careful selection of stocks that he may hold for years. His $22 billion fund today includes about 800 firms.

Others have recognized Tillinghast's financial acumen as well, including MarketWatch, which in 2007 named him "Stockpicker of the Decade."

Robert Korajczyk, the Harry G. Guthmann Professor of Finance, calls Tillinghast's track record "amazing."

"His approach is very Kellogg-like," says Korajczyk, "in the sense that he believes good portfolio managers need to understand the whole business and competitive environment of the firm — strategy, marketing (and) managerial culture, in addition to being able to dissect the financial statements."