MutualFundWire.com: Ever Retiring, Ned Makes Another Change in Fido's Top Ranks

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Friday, February 12, 2010

Ever Retiring, Ned Makes Another Change in Fido's Top Ranks

Less than three months after he moved from running all of asset management to heading up client management in Fidelity's workplace investing division, Mike Wilens has a new role at the Boston Behemoth. Wilens is now head of client strategy at Fidelity Investments, company spokesperson Vin Loporchio confirmed to The MFWire.

Michael Wilens
Fidelity Investments
Head of Corporate Operations

Wilens' tenure at Fidelity's 401(k) unit was too short to leave a lasting mark. Wilens himself was mostly a cipher, someone who came from outside the fund industry and had no retirement background. He never made the 401(k) rounds and was not personally known by other industry leaders.

Sources interviewed by The MFWire for this story repeatedly theorized that he was merely a placeholder for the 401(k) job until Fidelity could find a permanent replacement for Scott David.

The 401(k) biz remains the core part of Fidelity's' asset gathering strategy and the head of that biz is one of the most important jobs at 82 Devonshire Street. With Wilen to a different role within Fidelity, that job that now falls to Jim MacDonald, head of workplace investing services.

"We believe the changes will help ensure that our structure is tailored to our overall operational needs," Loporchio said.

Wilens joined Fidelity as the asset management leader in June of 2008. Last November, he moved to the workplace investing division, taking on the role vacated by David, who took a leave of absence due to family matters.

Before joining Fidelity, Wilens was the chief technology officer at Thomson Reuters and had headed Thomson's legal publishing business as president and CEO of Thomson Legal & Regulatory's North American Legal division.

In other Fidelity news, the firm tapped Steve Ulian, who led product management in the investment-only division, head of the newly formed sales and relationship support team. Ulian now reports to Jeff Lagarce, a former OppenheimerFunds executive who rejoined Fidelity last year as head of sales and relationship management in the retirement unit.

Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=24176

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