Power Shift: Fidelity execs move on

I see that Bob Reynolds, who quit Fidelity Investments last year knowing he would never inherit the CEO post from patriarch Ned Johnson, has landed at rival Putnam Investments as CEO. Good for Reynolds, but tough job ahead since Putnam is fighting fund redemptions and client defections.

Another former top exec at Fidelity who left, similarly frustrated, is Ellyn McColgan. Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO John Mack scooped her up and lured her from Boston to New York. McColgan is now president and COO of Morgan’s Global Wealth Management Group. She’s commandeering a workforce of 16,500.

Big gigs, both of them. Meanwhile at Fidelity, questions linger about whether Abby Johnson (right) will eventually take over from her father. The investment giant has kept the top job in the family ever since Ned’s father founded the firm 62 years ago. Abby, 46, has expanded her reach at Fidelity since I wrote a story last August about the company’s management churn and her apparent bout with cancer. She’s now running Fidelity’s largest division, Personal and Workplace Management.

Queried about Abby’s condition today, Fidelity spokesperson Anne Crowley says, “Abby is in good health and is vigorously pursuing her job daily.” Though she is extremely private and rarely seen around Boston, Ned’s billionaire daughter spoke to 150 people at a Fidelity conference for clients earlier this week, Crowley says. And this past spring, Abby appeared at client events in Nashville and Orlando.

P.S. Who do you think is likely to head Fidelity after Ned Johnson?