Fidelity goes outside to fill top positions

With the announcement last week of two new division chiefs, Fidelity Investments is continuing a trend of hiring outside talent for top jobs. The Boston-based fund firm named Peter Cieszko, former president of Evergreen Investments of Boston, president of Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. Inc. The firm also named Ed Orazem, former managing director at New York-based Citigroup Inc., president of Fidelity Family Office Services. "Historically, Fidelity has promoted from within," said Burton Greenwald, a Philadelphia-based mutual fund consultant. "Clearly, they are going outside and seeking to bulk up business where they feel they can be more effective." Hiring talent from outside the firm is a cultural shift for Fidelity, said Peter Raimondi, president and founder of Banyan Partners LLC of Palm Beach, Fla., which has $300 million in assets and uses Fidelity to custody assets.
"They are really making an effort to bring in some talented people from the outside world and still keep the talent they have. It's a great sign," Mr. Raimondi said. "Fidelity is a changing company, and they have clearly decided they are going to play very seriously in this marketplace," he said. "They are putting people in place to enhance the delivery of services to the clients." Fidelity Investments Institutional Services, which manages $272 billion in assets, provides investment management services and distributes Fidelity products through banks, insurance companies, securities brokers, financial planners and other financial services providers. Mr. Cieszko was to have taken over as president and chief executive of Evergreen Investments on Jan. 1. He said last month that he planned to leave at the end of the year to pursue other opportunities, an Evergreen spokeswoman said. Mr. Cieszko joined Evergreen in 2006 as head of global distribution. Previously, he held various leadership positions at Legg Mason Inc. of Baltimore and Citigroup Asset Management. "Peter has previous experience on the intermediary side of the business, where Fidelity is playing catch-up with Schwab," Mr. Greenwald said, referring to The Charles Schwab Corp. of San Francisco. "He should be able to help them build that business." Fidelity Family Office Services provides wealth management products and services to nearly 70 ultrahigh-net-worth family office clients representing more than $9 billion in assets. Mr. Cieszko replaces Joseph LoRusso, who last year announced his retirement, which became effective Dec. 31. Mr. Orazem replaces Roger Hobby, who left the firm in July "to pursue other opportunities," according to a statement from Fidelity. The post has been vacant since then. Fidelity's most recent hires have also been from the outside. Michael Durbin, formerly of Morgan Stanley, was hired in November as president of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, and on Nov. 25, the firm hired Charles Goldman, formerly of Schwab, to be president of institutional platforms, a new position. Fidelity had more than $2.5 trillion in assets under custody, including managed assets of more than $1.2 trillion, as of Nov. 30. E-mail Sue Asci at sasci@investmentnews.com.