Leverage the Business

Bill Carey, the new president of Fidelity’s Registered Investment Advisor Group (FRIAG), says that FRIAG can “differentiate” itself to its affiliated advisors by leveraging the strengths of Fidelity Investments, including its retirement services offerings, its knowledge of investors’ needs gained through its retail presence, and its money management expertise. In an interview on September 21, Carey said that at FRIAG “we’ve had such a focus on attracting new advisors” in the past, but that going forward that focus will instead address how “we deepen the relationship with our existing customers.” Carey, who replaced Jay Lanigan as FRIAG president in July, has been with Fidelity for 12 years, working in various roles with Fidelity Investments Retirement Services Company (FIRSCo), most recently as its president. Carey also said “we can raise the visibility of FRIAG within Fidelity” and that the commitment to the RIA business “comes from the chairman and from Ellyn McColgan,” president of Fidelity Brokerage Company. Carey reported that as of August 31, FRIAG had $144.8 billion in assets under custody from 2,843 affiliated advisors; those numbers represent a 147% increase and a 94% increase, respectively, over the past three years. However, Carey said Fidelity “should be growing this [business] at a more significant rate.” FRIAG’s also announced two new initiatives: Fidelity Trustee Referrals, a program involving 10 state and federally chartered trust companies (including Fidelity Personal Trust Company) that will specialize in working with advisors; and enhancements to BondTraderPro, its online fixed-income platform.