Chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments
Not long after taking the helm at Fidelity Investments a few years ago, Abigail Johnson made it clear that one of her priorities for the coming years was to bring more women into the company.
“We have a real need in our business right now to recruit more women,” Johnson told a Bloomberg Television interviewer last year. In addition to the desire to simply be fair in its hiring practices, there is also a very practical business case for bringing more women into investment management.
Women control an increasingly large share of overall wealth in the United States, and when they begin shopping around for an adviser, Johnson said, “very often, the first thing they say when we’re trying to get them paired up with a rep is, ‘I’d like to work with a woman.’ ”
Not long after that interview, though, Johnson faced a crisis that threatened to derail any progress toward making her company a more inviting space for women to work. In the space of just a few days, two successful portfolio managers were accused of sexual harassment.
Johnson dealt with the issues quickly and publicly. Both men were fired, and Johnson instituted a companywide training program to raise awareness about sexual harassment. She even moved her own office to the department where the harassment had taken place.
In a rare speech to her employees, she said, “For us to build a better future it is important for us to create a culture where bad behavior is not tolerated.”
While making sure her own house is in order, Johnson, through Fidelity’s “Boundless” program, is working with youth organizations to promote financial services as a career choice for young women — clearly in hopes of sowing a crop of those female employees Johnson sees as a key part of the company’s future.
