All the restructuring Fidelity president Rodger Lawson did at the Boston Behemoth seems to be paying off. The Boston Globe's resident Fidelity watcher, Ross Kerber reported Friday that according to a new report from Moody's Investors Service, the Fidelity is set to post strong profits this year.

The firm has substantially increased its margins this year, posting a profit of $478 million on revenue of $3.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008. This is compared to profits of $911 million, on revenue of $14.9 billion for all of 2007. Fidelity has also not seen any significant drop in assets in the down market. Moody's analyst Matthew Noll, put the company's AUM at $1.52 trillion, close to the $1.59 trillion it had at the end of 2007.

Noll was the same analyst who last November raised concerns about the Johnson family's tight grip on the reins at Fidelity and the lack of a succession plan for chairman and chief executive Ned Johnson. At the time, he also voiced concerns that the company was not attracting new talent. (see " Moody's Raises Concerns over Ned's Tight Grip on Fido ", MFWire 11/08/2007)

In this latest report, Noll revisits those issues, saying that the company has addressed his concerns about new talent and transition management. However, the concerns he had about the amount of control exercised by Johnson still remain. 

Edited by: Erin Kello


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