MutualFundWire.com: Can Abby Turn Fido Around?

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Monday, October 14, 2013

Can Abby Turn Fido Around?

Fidelity has taken a few jabs to the chin recently, raising questions of whether president Abby Johnson can and should assert herself more in her Dad's company.

For example, the Boston Business Journal reports that Fido for the month saw $1.5 billion in outflows, according to Morningstar data.

The reporter, Matthew Brown, writes that the outflows reflect a "missed opportunity" for Fido in terms of ETFs, selling BlackRock's iShares products, instead of building out its own line of products.

However, Brown quotes Morningstar analyst Michael Rawson, who says that it's not too late for Fido, that they are indeed, just being judicious. “It has hurt. You see the tremendous growth of (ETFs offered by) Vanguard and BlackRock’s iShares, or State Street’s SPDR product, and you can’t say objectively that (Fidelity) will be fine,” Rawson is quoted by Brown. “They’ve been hurt, but they’re being judicious.”

However, another business publication, FierceFinance aims some heavy punches at Fido and Johnson.

It may be unfair to say, as some critics have, that the firm has been sitting back, oddly disinterested in innovation. Employees note Abigail Johnson is pushing the firm into Fidelity-branded ETFs and exploring how social media can drive sales. But what is sorely missing is an overarching vision of how the company will return to glory. It may be that she has not figured it out yet.

The FierceFinance article cites another article previously published by Bloomberg on the subject of Abby Johnson and her tenure so far as Fidelity's president.

Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=46413

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