Fidelity Investments has appointed two executives to take over the responsibility former president Rodger Lawson left behind when he stepped down in March.

Abigail Johnson, the daughter of chairman Edward Johnson, will head the firm's distribution operations, while Ronald P O'Hanley, who joins the firm from the Bank of New York Mellon, will become president of asset management and corporate services. Johnson, as president of the company's personal, workplace and institutional unit, will be focused on all client-side activities.

Both will report to Ned Johnson, who has assumed the majority of Lawson's responsibilities. The Johnson family has been holding a controlling interest in Fidelity since it was founded in 1946.

Fidelity, which has $1.5 trillion in investor assets under its wing, had managed to bounce back from the global crisis, posting a 23 per cent rise in assets under administration in 2009. Previously focusing only on mutual funds, the company has branched out its services to include institutional money management, stock trading, retirement, and other asset management offerings.