Fidelity makes post-Perpetual planner play

By Rebecca Evans

FidelityInvestments has bulked up its ranks in order to spearhead a drive into the retail distribution market, after suffering the loss of investment mandates worth almost $2 billion when its exclusive alliance with Perpetual Investments was annulled in September last year.

The loss of the Perpetual business, which previously distributed Fidelity’s international equity funds in Australia, meant the group was forced to go out on its own to create a presence in the retail market.

As part of this strategy, Fidelity has announced it has appointed three new business development managers (BDM) to boost distribution through financial planners.

“These appointments are the first investment in the necessary resources to support relationships with financial planners,” Fidelity managing director Michael Ohlsson said.

“Further BDM appointments are expected over the next two months,” he said.

Ohlsson said Fidelity had been gearing up for some months to provide its investment capabilities to Australian investors through intermediaries.

The first of the new recruits, who will report to Fidelity director of sales and marketing Jenny Josling, are Matthew Dell, Meaghan Unsworth and John Meagher.

Dell joins the group from Professional Investment Services where he was NSW state manager, while Unsworth previously worked at MacquarieInvestment Management and Colonial First State.

Meagher, who has been appointed to operate in both the institutional and intermediary markets, joins the group from Invesco AssetManagement in London.