The president of Fidelity’s $3.6 trillion personal investing division is retiring after 12 years in the position, according to the company.
Kathy Murphy, 57, who had played a key role in scaling the company’s retail advice channel, is stepping down “around mid-year,” a Fidelity spokesman said in a statement.
Fidelity CEO Abby Johnson will work with the company’s senior leadership team to name a successor, the spokesman said.
“Kathy has been a critical member of our senior leadership team,” Fidelity CEO Abby Johnson wrote in a memo to employees about Murphy’s departure, which was first reported by the
Murphy has been a wealth management and benefits executive for two decades. Prior to joining Fidelity, she served as CEO of U.S. Wealth Management at ING, a Dutch financial services company.
Under her leadership, Fidelity’s retail brokerage division, which offers investment and planning to clients, grew to 26 million accounts and $3.6 trillion in assets, up from 12 million accounts and $916 billion when she joined the firm, according to the company. The company’s full-service wealth management business now holds $1.4 trillion in client assets.
Murphy led the division’s launch of fractional share trading, zero-commission trading, and its first zero-expense-ratio mutual funds, according to Fidelity. She also oversaw the company’s life insurance and annuity businesses, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In the memo to employees, Johnson said she was sorry to see her longtime lieutenant go.
“For me personally, I will miss Kathy’s leadership, passion, energy and relentless will to innovate and improve,” Johnson wrote.
Murphy has agreed to advise Fidelity’s leadership team in her retirement, but will no longer be a full-time employee of the firm, according to the spokesman.
