Peter Lynch Returns as Fidelity Analysts’ Adviser

Legendary stock picker Peter Lynch, who retired early from Fidelity Investments more than two years ago, said Friday that he has rejoined the firm part-time to help advise young stock analysts.

“I enjoy the stock market,” Lynch said. “When people in this business get together, they don’t talk about the Red Sox. . . . You talk about stocks and companies, and it’s fun. I miss it.”

Lynch, 48, gained fame as head of Fidelity’s flagship Magellan Fund, the largest stock mutual fund in the country. Lynch guided the fund to phenomenal growth, showing a knack for picking stocks that outperformed the market.

But Lynch retired in 1990, citing demands of the job.

He continued to serve as a trustee of the Fidelity Group of Funds, helping give broad guidance to the company’s investment strategies. Also, Lynch has spent time at Fidelity informally serving as a mentor for young analysts.

“It just shows that to be truly great in the investment field, you have to love it, and to turn it off is not as easy as someone might think,” said Eric Kobren, editor of Fidelity Insight, a Wellesley newsletter that tracks the company.

Lynch said he doesn’t plan to return to fund management or to take a full-time administrative post. He intends to continue lending most of his time to charities and other nonprofit groups outside Fidelity.

But having recently written a second book, “I can give more time to the analysts without slighting those other commitments,” he said.

Lynch said he would have no involvement with the Magellan Fund, unless he were asked a question by its current portfolio manager, Jeff Vinik.