Abby Johnson – Future of Finance - [Invest Like the Best, EP.116]

Over the summer. I spent time with Abby Johnson, who is the chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments and several other business leads at Fidelity to understand how a very large firm like theirs is navigating change in our industry. What follows is a condensed version of my various conversations with Abby and her team. We discuss the big buzzwords like blockchain and machine learning, but also thoughts on leadership, client centricity and measures of success. I hope you enjoyed this exploration For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:16 - (First Question) – [Abby] A look at the early part of Abby’s career 2:45 – Analyzing the skill of capital allocators 3:27 – A look at the asset management world of today and what to focus on today 7:23 – A set of decision-making principles that guide Abby 12:55 – Their strategy around the digitization of the world 16:07 – Balance between robo-advisors and humans and the markers of a good relationship 18:24 – What is the future of the role of the human in these relationships 20:15 – Their interest in emerging technologies like Blockchain 24:50 – Will crypto be its own asset class in the future 25:58 – [TOM] State of the business and the most interesting points of change 28:14 – Who is winning the battle for the next generation of investors 29:24 – How much of the change in financial business is cyclical 30:17 – What are businesses doing right to bridge that generational gap 31:01 – What does the future of the asset management industry look like 32:13 – What technologies could impact the asset management business the most 33:44 – The difference between machine learning and AI in this format 35:26 – In what way will AI impact these processes and replace humans 36:41 – What has him most excited about the future 37:54 – Advice for people thinking about pursuing a career in financial services 39:20 – Markers of a business that would be attractive for the next generation to consider working for 40:33 – The importance of brand when thinking about their business and those they work with 41:57 – Ways of engendering trust from a branding prospective 43:20 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Tom 44:28 – [VIPIN] Building a team around AI 45:21 – Markers for a good data strategy 47:25 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Vipin 48:58 - [ABBY] – How Fidelity thinks about data as an investing initiative 50:24 – Differentiating attributes of good analysts and if they’ve changed 51:34 – Investor she has always enjoyed learning from 52:37 – Favorite Peter Lynch story 53:17 – Business lessons that people could take away from Abby 54:59 – The role of women in financial services and what can be done to improve the situation there 57:35 – Trends that Abby is most excited to explore 1:00:22 – Positives and negatives of being part of a family business 1:01:46 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Abby Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag