People Moves
Fidelity’s Head Of Asset Management Departs
Ronald P. O’Hanley, head of asset management at US firm Fidelity Investments, is stepping down after less than four years in the role, the firm said in two internal memos.
Ronald O’Hanley, head of asset management at US firm Fidelity
Investments, is stepping down after less than four years in the
role, the firm said in two internal memos that
WealthBriefing has gained access to.
Confirming O’Hanley’s departure, a note to employees from
president Abigail Johnson revealed that Fidelity plans to replace
O’Hanley with an internal successor, who will be named in the
coming weeks. O’Hanley, in a separate memo, said he plans to
spend more time with his family and non-profit organizations,
before considering a new professional challenge.
“On reflection, the time is right for me to move on,” O’Hanley
said, adding that ultimately, he “will pursue other professional
challenges, though I have not yet begun to think through that
chapter”.
O’Hanley has already begun working closely with the CEO of
Fidelity’s family office, the Crosby Group, Geoff von Kuhn, to
transition the corporate services functions. The memos added that
O’Hanley will depart the firm by the end of February and will
over the next month be working to ensure a smooth handoff to the
new leader of asset management.
O’Hanley joined Fidelity in 2010 from Bank of New York Mellon,
where he also oversaw money management. He was hired at a time
when Fidelity was struggling to recover from the 2008 financial
crisis and investors fled the firm’s actively managed stock
funds.
“Having achieved much of what he intended to do, Ron has decided
that it’s now time for him to move on. Ron has effectively led
the globalization of our investment team, driven solid investment
performance across asset classes, built influential stakeholder
relationships, and launched innovative advancements to existing
and new products,” said Johnson when commenting on the
departure.
O’Hanley’s departure comes only days after another high profile
departure from a US asset manager, as the chief executive of
PIMCO, Mohamed El-Erian, said he is leaving the Allianz asset
management subsidiary to become an advisor to the parent company
instead. Read more on that story, here.
As of 31 October 2013, Boston-headquartered Fidelity managed $1.7 trillion.
