Ellyn McColgan has left Fidelity Investments.

McColgan, who was widely viewed as a potential successor to Fidelity CEO Edward Johnson III, spent 17 years at the Boston Behemoth, most recently serving as president of distribution and operations.

McColgan, 53, is seen by many as a mentor to Johnson's daughter, Abby, who serves as president of Fidelity Employer Services Company.

According to one Boston source who's well placed in the fund industry: "I wonder if what will happen to Abby will be similar to what's happened to [Sumner Redstone's] daughter."

Fidelity has yet to name McColgan's replacement. In the interim, Rodger Lawson, recently appointed as president of FMR Corp., will assume day-to-day control over distribution and operations.

"Rodger and I will work jointly on operational matters for an interim period during which we will fine-tune the organizational structure in order to enhance and grow the business," said Johnson in a news release.

McColgan is the third high-level executive to depart Fidelity in four months. In April, Bob Reynolds, Fidelity's vice chairman and chief operating officer, who, like McColgan, was deemed by many as a candidate to succeed Johnson in the CEO suite, resigned. Then, last week, Jeffrey Carney, who headed Fidelity's DC recordkeeping business, decamped to Bank of America.  

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