Where Does Peter Lynch Keep His Money?

Peter Lynch retired from his position as manager of Magellan Fund in 1990 after one of the most successful runs in stock market history. During his remarkable 13-year run, Lynch produced an annualized rate of return of 29.2%, beating the market at large by 13.4% per year annualized. Magellan Fund was the best-performing mutual fund in the world between 1977 and 1990. If you had invested $10,000 on the first day Peter Lynch took over and sold when he left, your investment would have been worth $280,000.

When he walked away from Magellan, Peter Lynch was just 46 years old and had plenty of money to spend. Boston Magazine once estimated his net wealth at $352 million. The following is where the celebrated stock-picking guru has kept or spent his money since that time.

Lynch lives outside of Boston along the North Shore waterfront area in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where the Lynch family owns several properties. These include a condo overlooking the local public gardens purchased for $6.1 million. The famous manager, along with his daughter and son-in-law, also purchased two nearby parking spaces for $340,000. He has real estate holdings in other parts of the world, as well. For example, he bought a small farm-like home in Dublin, Ireland, with his wife Carolyn on their 25th wedding anniversary. He sold his longtime second home in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2010 for a reported $15 million.

Lynch is guarded about his private life, though he admits to loving a few recreational hobbies. He grew up near Boston's ports and caddied for upper-class golf clubs, and still maintains an affinity for both activities, reportedly owning several small boats. After his retirement, Lynch told the Boston Globe, "I plan to start playing golf again. It's a great family sport."

Outside of his real estate holdings and a small portfolio he established for his daughter when she was four years old, there is very little public information about Lynch's private investments. However, he still works with Fidelity Investments as a consultant and pitchman. As of 2000, he owned a 5% or 6% stake in the company, which must be worth quite a lot. The family-run Fidelity is notoriously secretive about its valuation.

Lynch is a quiet philanthropist, but a very active and dedicated one. Though Lynch rarely seeks the spotlight, he and his wife, Carolyn, until her death in 2015, devoted most of their free time to the Lynch Foundation. Launched in 1988, the Lynch Foundation was valued in 2013 at $125 million. According to a New York Times report, it was designed to allow the family's "philanthropic dollars to grow tax free."

"A lot of people wake up at 65 and they want to do charitable giving," Lynch explains. The problem is "they've been paying taxes all the way along." The Lynch Foundation manages investments for future charitable work, and Lynch is the active portfolio manager. The four major areas of the foundation's efforts are education, cultural and historic preservation, religion and health care.

Lynch enjoys doing hands-on research. This includes looking "for undervalued programs with big potential, and they track their return on investment," according to the Boston Globe. Lynch described it as "like the stock market, we're always looking for a good idea versus a great idea."

Peter and Carolyn made headlines in February 1999 when they donated more than $10 million to Boston College, the largest single gift in school history. Peter was a graduate of Boston College and has deep family ties with the institution. He also served as a trustee on the school's board. He gives through a Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and two separate charitable trusts.

The Lynches gave away "millions of dollars per year," and Peter continues to spend about a third of each year engaging in philanthropic fundraising, encouraging others to give along with him. "I'm trying to get them to give more," says Lynch. "You only have 60 business days to get through to 150 people, but I get through."

"Looking back, I was damned lucky. I won the lottery," Peter says. "We're just trying to give the same opportunities to other children."