How Abby Johnson won the hearts of mega-RIA clients in advance of taking the CEO spot at Fidelity Investments
It wasn't what Ned Johnson's daughter said; she mostly let her ears do the talking
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March 25, 2023 at 1:32 AM
Fidelity Investments pulls out stops on perks to raise headcount by 7,000 -- by hiring 9,000 -- to shrug off labor shortages, escalating wages and call center attrition
The 53,000-employee Boston firm is offering Google-type benefits and Merrill Lynch-style training--no financial experience necessary-- to reach 60,000 staffers by Christmas to meet crushing demand for service and still advance mega-projects like crypto and youth accounts
September 4, 2021 at 12:57 AM
Fidelity Investments is paying 2,000 employees to hasten their corporate exits, including high-profile RIA overseer, Sanjiv Mirchandani, as part of its shift to a digital future
The Boston giant offered voluntary buyout packages and the 4% of staff who accepted will leave by June 30 to give other staff room to grow careers and make room for hires.
June 24, 2021 at 5:39 PM
Fidelity Investments loses Kathleen Murphy who largely caught up Fido to Schwab (near $4T) on the retail side by reversing net promoter scores
The 'no whining allowed' leader of the Boston giant's retail business, who oversaw $2 trillion in net new assets, was ready to exit but hung in through a year dominated by COVID-19 challenges
January 23, 2021 at 2:02 AM
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Mr. RIA
Aaaah, doesn’t her daddy own the company? What an accomplishment.
brooke southall
Mr. RIA. You have yet to leave a comment that wasn’t acerbic or that contained any insight. You need to up your game or I will delete your comments going forward. -Brooke
Mr. RIA
Sorry Brooke. I can clean it up. I’m just dubious of her accomplishments (due to the potential presence of nepotism) and would like to see her really lead this company before I applaud.
Grant
Another great article, Brooke.
Initially as I was reading, my nine-year-old daughter interrupted me several times. So, as often is the case, I decided to read to her the article to get a different perspective and to sort of multitask. She listened patiently as I read to her about all of the accomplishments of Abby Johnson. She never interrupted me once. When I finished reading I asked her if she understood all of the things that I just read to her. She said she thought so. She said she wanted to be like Abby when she grew up. I asked her if it was because she got to be the boss and tell people what to do. She said “no.” Then I asked her if it was because she was wealthy. My daughter said, “no.” Then I asked her if it was because she had many degrees and was very well educated. To which she said, “no.” I finally asked, “why do you want to be like Abby Johnson?” She looked at me and said, “because she gets to work with her dad.”
Congratulations to Abby… and to her father.
brooke southall
Mr. RIA. I like that articulation better. I think she deserves a little applause for making it this far but being a nepotistic suspect is her cross to bear.
Grant,
That’s one of the great comments alongside one of the great insights and keen readings of an RIABiz article (by your daughter)
.
Thank you so much for sharing this story and telling it so well.
Brooke
FAA
Can’t beat a private company- Fidelity, Bloomberg, Koch etc. Successful for many reason surely but one is the ability to do what they see fit, when they see fit and how they see fit without the quarterly scrutiny which publicly traded companies go through. Good for them good for her and hopefully good for the consumer!
Stephen Winks
The fact that Abby is listening holds the promise of resolving the industry’s insularity to its most significant challenges. The trust and confidence of the investing public depends upon it, Abby may be in a unique position slay outdated cultural dragons which thwart innovation.
SCW.
Mike Golaszewski
Grant,
Your comment seriously made my day. Thanks for sharing it!
Marty Morua
Completely agreed Mike! I’m a long time RIAbiz fan (I think you know that Brooke) & Grant’s comment added a little bit of sunshine to the article. My daughter is 10, and Grant has inspired me to do a little bit more “financial related” reading with her.
Thanks all!
Marty Morua
