BofA Merrill Lynch beefs up retirement biz with Fidelity hires

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has nabbed two executives from the retirement services group at Fidelity Investments. Rich Linton, a 20-year Fidelity veteran who headed up that firm's adviser retirement group, has been named head of business retirement solutions at BofA, according to an internal memorandum. He will oversee the firm's small-business retirement services, including its Advisor Alliance platform, which it relaunched last month. Steve Ulian, the former head of sales and relationship management for workplace investing at Fidelity, will head institutional retirement and benefits solutions at BofA, according to the memo, from Andy Sieg, head of retirement and philanthropic services. According to observers, the hires are a signal that BofA takes the retirement market seriously — and aims to be a strong player in the space. This isn't the first time that BofA has snagged two retirement executives from Fidelity. In 2007, the company hired Bill Carey, a 14-year Fidelity veteran, and Jeffrey Carney, former head of Fidelity's retirement services business. Both those executives left BofA within two years, however. “The firm didn't have the resources behind its 401(k) business that they do now,” said one recruiter familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified. “My question would be: Do they have those resources now? That's a big organizational shift in mindset in 36 months,” the recruiter said. Mr. Sieg, in an interview, emphasized that the firm is committed to its retirement business. “This is not the legacy bank retirement business,” he said. “I think the context is entirely different today that we have the Merrill Lynch legacy business which is a strong, scaled, profitable business.” So far this year, BofA has received more than $13 billion in new commitments from retirement plan sponsors. “That number is in excess of our full-year target,” Mr. Sieg said, declining to pinpoint the firm's sales target. For Fidelity, the moves mark the latest in a series of executive departures. In January, Rodger Lawson, Fidelity's president, said that he would leave the fund firm at the end of March. Later that month, Charles Goldman, president of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, which serves registered investment advisers, and National Financial Services LLC's correspondent-clearing unit, announced his departure. “We are well-prepared for the inevitable changes that any company undergoes,” said Steve Austin, a Fidelity spokesman. Mike Harger, senior vice president in Fidelity's adviser 401(k) business, has replaced Mr. Linton. Jeffrey Lagarce, executive vice president of sales and relationship management for the workplace investment group, is taking on Mr. Ulian's responsibilities and is evaluating how the firm will replace him in the long term, Mr. Austin said.