Fidelity chairman deals with fallout from sexual harassment claims
Robert Chow
Less than a year into her tenure as chairman of Fidelity Investments   Abigail Johnson faces a crisis amid allegations that the mutual fund giant has a men ’ s club mentality . A sign marks a Fidelity Investments office in Boston   Massachusetts   U . S . September 21   2016 . REUTERS / Brian Snyder - Johnson is addressing inappropriate workplace conduct such as sexual harassment by hiring a consulting firm to review employee behavior stretching back years   the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday . “ Fidelity ’ s policies specifically prohibit harassment in any form  ” the company said in a statement on Sunday . “ When allegations of these sorts are brought to our attention   we investigate them immediately and take prompt and appropriate action .” Fidelity would not confirm the review by consultants . In the past month   Johnson collared the attention of Fidelity ’ s stock funds team when she signed off on the dismissal of star portfolio manager Gavin Baker   who had been accused of sexual harassment   according to a person familiar with the situation . The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the circumstances surrounding Baker ’ s departure on Oct . 13 . Through a spokeswoman at public relations firm Goldin Solutions   Baker has denied allegations of sexual harassment . Brian Hogan   president of Fidelity ’ s stock funds division   held an emergency meeting on Oct . 16 to ensure everyone is aware of the company ’ s zero - tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct   according to a source familiar with the meeting . He also reiterated that employees have various ways   such as calling the chairman ’ s hotline   to report any concerns anonymously . He called the meeting partly to address concerns raised in connection with the ouster of Baker   who ran the $ 16 billion OTC ( over the counter ) Portfolio . He had one of the hottest hands in the mutual fund industry   generating a 3 - year annualized return of 19 . 03 percent   or better than 99 percent of his large - cap growth fund peers   according to Morningstar . The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Hogan ’ s meeting in a Sunday story that also said Fidelity had dismissed  Robert Chow    who had been with the money manager for nearly 30 years . A person familiar with the situation confirmed the report that  Chow  had been forced out after being accused of making inappropriate sexual comments . Chow   who was known as a value investor earlier in his career   had most recently worked as a senior investment manager for private portfolios . He did not return messages seeking comment . Fidelity ’ s handling of the claims coincides with a deluge of sexual harassments complaints against powerful executives in the entertainment industry that has opened a fierce debate about workplace abuse of women in the wider world . Johnson recently said she is on a mission to hire more women at Fidelity . Last month   she said Fidelity had a shortage of women to give financial advice to female clients at its investment branches . “ We have a real need in our business to recruit more women  ” Johnson said in a September interview on Bloomberg TV . “... We don ’ t have enough women who are customer facing reps to serve all the women customers who come in and ask for women .”
Less than a year into her tenure as chairman of Fidelity Investments   Abigail Johnson faces a crisis amid allegations that the mutual fund giant has a men ’ s club mentality . A sign marks a Fidelity Investments office in Boston   Massachusetts   U . S . September 21   2016 . REUTERS / Brian Snyder - Johnson is addressing inappropriate workplace conduct such as sexual harassment by hiring a consulting firm to review employee behavior stretching back years   the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday . “ Fidelity ’ s policies specifically prohibit harassment in any form  ” the company said in a statement on Sunday . “ When allegations of these sorts are brought to our attention   we investigate them immediately and take prompt and appropriate action .” Fidelity would not confirm the review by consultants . In the past month   Johnson collared the attention of Fidelity ’ s stock funds team when she signed off on the dismissal of star portfolio manager Gavin Baker   who had been accused of sexual harassment   according to a person familiar with the situation . The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the circumstances surrounding Baker ’ s departure on Oct . 13 . Through a spokeswoman at public relations firm Goldin Solutions   Baker has denied allegations of sexual harassment . Brian Hogan   president of Fidelity ’ s stock funds division   held an emergency meeting on Oct . 16 to ensure everyone is aware of the company ’ s zero - tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct   according to a source familiar with the meeting . He also reiterated that employees have various ways   such as calling the chairman ’ s hotline   to report any concerns anonymously . He called the meeting partly to address concerns raised in connection with the ouster of Baker   who ran the $ 16 billion OTC ( over the counter ) Portfolio . He had one of the hottest hands in the mutual fund industry   generating a 3 - year annualized return of 19 . 03 percent   or better than 99 percent of his large - cap growth fund peers   according to Morningstar . The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Hogan ’ s meeting in a Sunday story that also said Fidelity had dismissed  [TGT]    who had been with the money manager for nearly 30 years . A person familiar with the situation confirmed the report that  Chow  had been forced out after being accused of making inappropriate sexual comments . Chow   who was known as a value investor earlier in his career   had most recently worked as a senior investment manager for private portfolios . He did not return messages seeking comment . Fidelity ’ s handling of the claims coincides with a deluge of sexual harassments complaints against powerful executives in the entertainment industry that has opened a fierce debate about workplace abuse of women in the wider world . Johnson recently said she is on a mission to hire more women at Fidelity . Last month   she said Fidelity had a shortage of women to give financial advice to female clients at its investment branches . “ We have a real need in our business to recruit more women  ” Johnson said in a September interview on Bloomberg TV . “... We don ’ t have enough women who are customer facing reps to serve all the women customers who come in and ask for women .”