A $1,000 investment in Fidelity Low-Priced Stock in 1989 is worth more than $35,000 today. The same investment in the S&P 500? Only $12,800. By LESLIE P. NORTON Aug. 12, 2017 12:14 a.m. ET Brian Stauffer for Barron's Joel Tillinghast is nothing if not persistent, which explains how an obscure economist came to launch the market-beatingFidelity Low-Priced Stockfund nearly 28 years ago. In the early 1980s, he made a series of phone calls to superstar Peter Lynch’s Boston office. The famed manager of the top-performing Fidelity Magellan fund tells the story in his foreword to Tillinghast’s new book,Big Money Thinks Small. Lynch writes that his secretary eventually put Tillinghast through, saying there was a “sweet guy” from the Midwest who kept calling. She thought he might be a farmer. Lynch said he’d give him five minutes. An hour later, he said, “We’ve got to hire this guy.” Since the fund (ticker: FLPSX) launched on Dec. 27, 1989, it has returned 13.8% a year, compared with 9.6% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 index, and 9.7% for the Standard & Poor’s 500. It is a quirky proposition, to use a value style to pick stocks priced below $35, then waiting for the market to recognize their promise. The fund currently owns 889 stocks, and Tillinghast could tell you about every one of them. A deeply thoughtful man, of medium height, with a shock of graying blonde hair, Tillinghast, 59, is an ardent reader and gardener. In his Beacon Hill backyard, he keeps hydrangeas, tomatoes, basil, rosemary, and a Japanese maple. Managing money, he says, is like planting a crop. “You plant a seed. It takes time to see results. Sometimes you can just contemplate the plants, and as long as they aren’t howling for water or sun, you can just enjoy them and watch. But they do need weeding and nurturing and attention.” http://www.barrons.com/articles/joel-tillinghast-finds-big-returns-in-small-stocks-1502511285