Fidelity Institutional is promoting an internal executive to guide the future of its technology for financial advisors.
The custody and clearing firm plans to make Jessica Liberi, currently the head of product at Fidelity-owned financial planning fintech eMoney Advisor, the new head of platform technology at Fidelity Institutional. Liberi replaces Lisa Burns, who held the role for three years before retiring at the end of 2021.
Under Liberi, eMoney developed new digital marketing tools for advisors, a mobile app called Incentive for self-directed investors, APIs to integrate with
“Jess not only brings a wealth of experience in delivering innovative digital capabilities, but also a deep passion for unlocking ways technology can elevate financial advice and enhance how advisors interact with clients,” said Mike Durbin, head of Fidelity Institutional.
Financial Planning spoke with Liberi about her new role and how her experience in planning software will inform decisions for a much larger technology platform.
The following has been lightly editedfor length and clarity.
Financial Planning: How long have you been with eMoney, and why make this move over to Fidelity now?
Jessica Liberi: I’ve been at eMoney for the last eight years. I joined in 2014, the year prior to the
What prompted the move? I think it’s just a natural step in my career. At eMoney, we’ve touted our mission of helping people talk about money, we’ve focused on how we can help deliver more plans to more people and that’s really my passion. So, I’ve long been focused on how we can help individuals get better access to sound financial advice, sound financial guidance, and I was lucky enough to put that passion into practice at a firm like eMoney that really focused on how we can get more plans to more people. And focused on the importance of technology as a part of how we do that. As I look at the role at Fidelity, I’m really excited to continue to dig into that passion and into the financial advice space, and to continue influencing the future of financial advice with that focus on technology.
FP: So what is the new role at Fidelity and what can you tell us about what you’re going to be doing in your day-to-day?
JL: The role is head of platform technology, and, similar to eMoney, I’ll be responsible for all new and existing platform capabilities and digital experiences for the Fidelity Institutional clients. It includes the overall vision, strategy and roadmap for any new offerings and enactments, and it includes solutions like Wealthscape, Wealthscape Investor and Integration Xchange.
FP: So you’re going to be continuing to work a lot with financial advisors and not the consumer-facing product side?
JL: Yes, serving the financial advisors at Fidelity.
FP: What trends do you think will be guiding the work that you’re doing?
JL: I think any financial advisor of the future is going to have to think about what is that experience that they’re creating for their client. The focus there is really going to be how we can add value for our customers, help them grow their businesses, how we can give them really great digital experiences, personalized solutions, how we can enable operational efficiencies and streamlined workflows. I'm excited for all of that and excited to continue the momentum that they already have going for them at Fidelity.
FP: Is there anything out there right now that you’re specifically really excited about working with at Fidelity than you haven’t in your past with eMoney?
JL: Nothing particularly. I think for me, my passion is around the experience and how you can drive these really great digital experiences for advisors and clients and help them dynamically handle the market that continues to change each and every day.
FP: Let’s talk a bit about “client experience.” That’s a phrase we hear a lot of in wealth management. What does it mean to you? What is a great client experience and what should it look or feel like? JL: A great client experience should be somewhat effortless. As you think about all of the options available in the market today — both for advisors and the clients that they work with — whether they're in the financial services industry or not, there’s so many great examples of experiences that people just find delightful. I talked to my team at eMoney about this awhile back thinking about Peloton and the experience that Peloton creates for that community and the community around it. As you look to take inspiration, even from areas outside of the financial advice industry itself, themes that come up for me are ease of use, personalization, community and really understanding how valuable my time is. Creating those efficiencies and more streamlined activities so that tasks that need to get done take very little time and allow me to focus on aspects of my business or client relationships that really do require more of my time and effort, because that’s where value is created.
FP: Obviously eMoney is owned by Fidelity, but it also prides itself in remaining somewhat of an independent technology company. With that, is there anything from eMoney that you’d like to bring over to the larger Fidelity office?
JL: As I look back at my time at eMoney, one of the things that I've valued the most is the people and the relationships that I’ve built there. If you could bring the entire team with you and just say yeah these are great people, we’ve developed great working relationships — I’m cheating a little bit on your question, but the people have really been tremendous and those relationships that I've built have been tremendous. I'll look back fondly on all of that for many many years. With all of that said, I’m super excited to build the same relationships with a new team at Fidelity. I think I can take a lot of inspiration from what worked for us at eMoney and how we were able to build high functioning, high performing teams to the work that I'll do there.
FP: What’s one thing looking back that you're most proud of your role in at eMoney?
JL: I think that there’s two because you have to have both in order to claim success. I talked a little bit about the people. I think as I look back on my time at eMoney, building a really strong team with a focus on product. Developing an appreciation across the company for the role of products. That is one thing that I'll look back and say as I leave the organization, I’m leaving a team with a ton of momentum … I’m very, very proud of that.
At the same time, that strong team that I built was able to help launch new products into the industry that really did think about how we can execute on our mission of helping people talk about money and delivering more plans for more people. Our focus is always somewhat on the consumer because we have to think about how we can help advisors better serve their clients. And I’m really proud that eMoney was able to look and see that there is opportunity to bring our unique expertise in planning to more and more people in a very digital fashion and through the advisors that we work with.
