Innovative Home Page Involves Fidelity Investments' Customers in Retirement Plan Development
Fidelity Investments 82 Devonshire St. Boston, MA 02109
SIZE OF FIRM:
$1.3 trillion in assets under management.
PREVIOUS POSITIONS:
Fidelity Investments Systems Co., president; Fidelity eBusiness, president; Fidelity Employer Services Co., EVP of technology.
EDUCATION:
B.S. in general business and M.B.A. from University of Rhode Island.
WHO WAS YOUR MENTOR?
Bob Rowls, COO at Fidelity. He's been a tremendous business partner in thinking through how to apply technology for a competitive advantage. We built the 401(k) business from a very small, tiny business to the largest 401(k) business in the country. As part of that, we've come out with quite a few innovations that have driven the business.
WHO INFLUENCED YOU THE MOST IN YOUR CAREER?
My father -- he gave me the basics. As technology has come and gone, there are certain basics that make you successful in life: work ethic, honesty, integrity and perseverance.
WHAT WORK EXPERIENCE HAS HAD THE MOST LASTING IMPRESSION ON YOUR CAREER?
My 401(k) work experience. I had a great opportunity to work with some of the largest and most innovative companies in the country in helping build out the 401(k) practice for them.
LAST GOOD BOOK READ:
"Team of Rivals," by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Top 3 Current Projects
Retirement Planning Tools
Objective:
Fidelity is promoting a lot about helping people plan for retirement and be successful in retirement. What we're doing is investing heavily to get people the right tools. People are making life decisions around the planning tools. Those are all serious decisions that you're making that you can't make a mistake on.
Channel Integration
Objective:
We have the Internet and we have phone reps, and they're both very good as independent channels. But what we want to do is bring the two together to significantly improve the level of service people can get through the Internet. One area is for active traders by bringing in a representative for help or assistance with trading decisions.
Fidelity Labs
Objective:
It's really about driving meaningful innovation to our customers. What we're looking to do is involve our customers in some of our more-innovative initiatives. Fidelity Labs is a space on the Fidelity home page where we'll introduce brand-new tools and capabilities. We want to find out if they are a benefit and what we need to do to make them a greater benefit.
Vitals
IT Budget:
More than $2 billion.
Key Technology Management:
- Bill Thornton, Head of Technology and Architecture Team,
- Ken Starkey, Telecommunications and Operations,
- Michael Seay, Head of Development,
- Steve Scullen, Head of E-Business,
- Jon Aliber, Head of Information Security
Size of Technology Team:
10,000 employees.
Percent of IT Projects Outsourced:
Very little. We primarily do most of our work ourselves.
Key Technology Partners:
I prefer not to specify, but all the big companies, as well as smaller, more- innovative, entrepreneurial companies.
Success Metrics:
It's important for us to drive innovation and cost-effectiveness, protect the firm from an IT standpoint (both security and overall quality), and achieve individual project success. Projects are measured in terms of being on time, on budget and high quality -- with the appropriate functionality -- and by how much they advance the firm.
The biggest impact will be the future capabilities of the Internet. The Internet still is in its infancy, and you can look at how many different roles it's going to play. For consumers, all it is today is a connection to your PC. As we see it evolve, it will be a connection to your TV, your stereo, your home phone -- delivering information and capability to customers. Today, the Internet is localized to your home or cafes. In the future, it will be everywhere.
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