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Individuals want to invest, too Edward Crosby Johnson II started Fidelity Investments in 1946 to manage the Fidelity mutual fund, which was started in 1930. Under his management, the fund's assets grew from under $3 million to over $3 billion. During the 1970s, Fidelity began to make funds directly accessible to individual investors and set an industry standard by eliminating mutual fund sales charges. An early leader in discount brokerage, Fidelity was the first to see that the future of financial services depended on empowering individual investors to take advantage of investment opportunities. King of the hill To describe Fidelity is to make use of superlatives. With $645.4 billion in mutual fund assets under management and 14 million customers, the company is the largest privately-held financial services company in the nation, the second-largest discount brokerage firm in the nation, the leading provider of company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plans to the Fortune 500 companies, and the largest mutual fund company in the world. Notable funds include Contrafund, Growth and Income, and Magellan, the largest mutual fund on the market. Fidelity Investments is the trade name for Fidelity Management and Research Company (FMR), the holding company through which CEO Edward "Ned" Johnson controls the empire of financial institutions that his father established. Fidelity Investments breaks down into seven principal groups, each with their respective sub-groups. Fund power Fidelity's power was notably demonstrated by the company's investment in Yahoo!. In the first five months of 1997, Fidelity snapped up 2.5 million shares of the search engine's stock, representing about 14 percent of stock not held by insiders, according to SmartMoney. The move helped Yahoo's stock price rise form $65 to $120 during those months. In the mid-1990s, poor product performance and management problems led many to wonder if Fidelity had finally lost its edge. The company seems, however, to be rebounding after working on cost cutting, management restructuring, and vigorous marketing. In 1998, Fidelity remained the world's largest mutual fund company. The company processes an estimated 72,000 trades a day for its retail and institutional clients, and its phone sites process more than half a million incoming calls daily. Despite economic turmoil abroad, Fidelity continues to pursue vigorous international expansion. One of its international branches, Fidelity Investments Ltd., saw its assets in Europe grow by nearly 50 percent in 1997. The company has also grown in Asia. In Japan, Fidelity has recently introduced six new funds for Japanese investors, and struck agreements to market its products at dozens of branches of Asahi Bank.
While Fidelity does not specify educational requirements, it does look for entrepreneurial candidates who can succeed in a fast-paced environment. Most new hires have some financial or business background, but there are also opportunities for those with technology and computer expertise. Fidelity's employment web page, located at www.fidelity.com/employment, discusses the different departments within the company and the skills that they require. The web page also allows applicants to search a job database, build their resumes on-line, and submit resumes via e-mail. Fidelity prefers MBAs for positions that include Quantitative Equity Analysts, Regional Service Representatives, Product/Service Consultants, Investment Managers, Quantitative Analysts, and Performance Analysts. For MBAs applying for analyst positions, having a love for the stock market seems to be the most important qualification. If you are sending in your resume, insiders recommend attaching a stock report. "They love that," says one insider. "It will definitely increase your chances of getting an interview."
Flexible culture Fidelity's corporate culture wins high marks from employees for being "enlightened" because of its "high degree of tolerance in dealing with its people." According to one recent summer associate, "Fidelity understands that workers can't always be perfect. They don't have a problem with people being grouchy." Unlike many other companies in the industry, Fidelity "assigns a great deal of autonomy, both personally and professionally" to its employees. You like stocks or bonds? Recent hires say that one of the "striking" characteristics of working for Fidelity is that "Fidelity's workplace has a major dichotomy between the fixed income and equity divisions. The culture at fixed income is completely different from the culture in the equity division." Employees in the fixed income division praise their "team-oriented work place" and feel that "the best part of working for this company is your coworkers, the best in the game." However, an associate in the equity departments laments his department's "individualistic, even 'dog-eat-dog' environment." "Equity," he notes, "is not very social at all." He goes on to add: "It's not for someone who really likes a team effort environment. Not that it's not friendly, but although you interact with other people, you work a lot on your own. It's also stressful, so if you can't handle up and down stressful times, you should look elsewhere." Another equity employee says that "Fidelity and its culture are more solitary than at other companies. In general, your job's going to be solitary if you work in buy-side mutual environment. But Fidelity's even more solitary than usual - absolutely no after-work social life. It's stressful during the day but then people go their separate ways after work. It's not a place for someone who wants work to be the center of their lives." A one-man show It's "impossible to talk of Fidelity without mentioning Ned Johnson somewhere," insiders assert. "Ultimately, this place is an autocracy, and one man is ruler - Ned Johnson," one longtime employee comments, adding ruefully, "Ned Johnson has the power to make decisions with no checks on that power. He's a smart guy, but occasionally he makes a very non-optimal decision. And we have to bear the consequences of his occasional wackiness." Another agrees: "This is Ned's candy store. He was given this firm by his father. He'll come up with the quirkiest, strangest idea in the middle of the night, and everyone has to deal with it. It's very frustrating." Good firm for women A recent female summer intern in the fixed income division states that "Fidelity is very anxious for women to work for it. My immediate superior was a woman and was very candid with me when soliciting my assistance in identifying good female candidates." One contact notes: "One of the most powerful people around the company is a woman - Abigail Johnson, who'll probably run this company very soon. And that will be a great day for women." Another, when asked about the effect of Abigail Johnson on the workplace, replies: "I don't think it matters. There were a few other women where I worked. I felt like we were treated fine. They don't treat women any different, there are just fewer of them. In a lot of ways that can be an advantage - there are more opportunities." Employees are particularly appreciative of Fidelity's many family-friendly programs, which, according to one female employee, ensure that "Fidelity's a good place for working women and families." Another contact agrees, noting that "there are a ton of people here on maternity leave." Fidelity's family programs include Adoption Assistance, Child Care assistance, Vacation Programs for School-Age Children, College Planning and Scholarship Information Service, Elder Care Resource & Referral, an Employee Assistance Program, and Mortgage Service. Other perks that draw praise include Fidelity's comprehensive training opportunities and an "excellent" retirement benefits consisting of a 401(k) package with a matching contribution by Fidelity.
Human Resources
Mutual Funds;Discount Brokerage;Benefits Outsourcing;Retirement Services;Record Keeping
Citibank/Citigroup;Merrill Lynch;Morgan Stanley Dean Witter;T. Rowe Price;Vanguard Group;Zurich Kemper Scudder More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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