Outsider will run key Fidelity units
3 divisions lose independence
Fidelity Investments yesterday named an outsider from a research and data company to head its asset management divisions, a surprise pick for the Boston mutual fund giant.
Michael E. Wilens will join Fidelity from Thomson Reuters, the New York firm where he oversaw new technology and corporate growth projects.
At Fidelity, he will oversee units including its core FMR Co. division, which runs Fidelity's mutual funds. He will also oversee the company's Pyramis business, which handles money for institutions, and Strategic Advisors, which provides services through intermediaries.
Previously, the businesses were run independently and reported to Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III, chief executive of Fidelity's closely held parent company. Wilens will report to Rodger A. Lawson, increasing the influence of the man who was named Fidelity's president last summer.
Executives didn't grant interviews yesterday, but in a statement Lawson described the moves as a way to bring Fidelity's various investment business units together.
"We have been looking for an exceptional executive to provide cohesive oversight of Fidelity's three major investment divisions," Lawson said.
Wilens will work closely with the trustees who oversee Fidelity funds and direct the firm's investment technology and operations areas.
After a powerful performance in 2007, Fidelity's mutual funds have posted mixed results this year, according to measures by the Chicago research firm Morningstar.
John Bonnanzio, editor of the Fidelity Insight newsletter, said the funds were temporarily thrown by difficult markets. But Lawson, who joined Fidelity as an outsider, by picking Wilens is reinforcing a culture in which fewer of the company's top leaders are longtime veterans, Bonnanzio said.
In addition, Wilens's technology background sends a message that Fidelity's dispersed investment units will have to improve their information flow. The operational challenge, he said, is "how to make sure everyone is looking at the same information and having a conversation about it."
Ross Kerber can be reached at kerber@globe.com.
