Peter Cieszko appears to already be making his mark on Fidelity Investments Institutional Services. Industry insiders told MFWire that several senior executives left Cieszko's unit at the Boston Behemoth within the past week, but it's unclear if the moves represent a cut, a restructuring or a simple management change instituted by a new leader. (Cieszko took over as president of FIIS in January: see MFWire, 1/6/2009.)

A spokesman for Fidelity declined to comment on any specific changes, but he confirmed that Cieszko recently completed an evaluation of FIIS.

"One of his [Cieszko's] goals was to assess the situation. Peter has completed his assessment," the spokesman told MFWire. "He's making some changes to better align our products and services to meet the evolving needs of our clients as well as support our future growth."

One source familiar with the situation said that both FIIS' head of sales and its head of product just left the firm.

A recruiter in the mutual fund industry told MFWire that the move "wouldn't surprise" him, particularly in the context of Cieszko's previous tenures as global distribution unit chief and then CEO at Evergreen Investments and as head of global distribution at Legg Mason (after the Citi swap).

"It fits a pattern of how he's done things before," the recruiter told MFWire, explaining that Cieszko previously brought in several fresh executive faces when taking over a new post.

An industry consultant who was not aware of the specific FIIS cuts confirmed that the unit is making "a lot of changes" as they compete against Schwab and others. 

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