With the choice of Sanjeev Shah to run its flagship UK Special Situations fund, Fidelity has opted for the continuity candidate. Shah is at pains to stress the similarities of his contrarian stockpicking style to that of the outgoing Anthony Bolton, one of the Uk's highest-profile fund managers.

Shah, who currently runs Fidelity's European Aggressive fund, said that although he choses companies on the basis of their own internal factors rather than views on the economy - termed bottom-up stockpicking - he nevertheless shares Bolton's latterly more bearish stance on markets.