Fidelity Hires James Stuttard for New Fixed-Income Position

Fidelity Investments has hired James Stuttard in the newly created role of fixed-income portfolio manager. Stuttard, who joins the firm from Schroder Investment Management Ltd., will begin his new role in June.

Making an even bigger push into the fixed-income market, Fidelity also announced the additions of fixed-income analysts Neil Beddall, from Barclays Capital; Shaunn Griffiths, from ING Commercial Banking; and Lisa MacLachlan, from Aberdeen Asset Managers. Fidelity currently has eight research analysts working the fixed-income space in London, and one trader.

"These hires are critical to our efforts to expand our global capabilities in non-US-dollar securities analysis and portfolio management," says Christopher Sullivan, president of Fidelity's bond group. "They will help us to provide a fully functioning, on-the-ground approach to fixed income for our institutional clients in Europe and the Middle East who invest with us through Pyramis Global Advisors, and their work also will be very beneficial to other Pyramis institutional clients globally as well as our US-based mutual fund clients."

BST's Analysis:
Over the last two-and-a-half years, Fidelity has significantly grown its fixed-income and asset management businesses outside of the US with the additions of offices in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. We would expect that those Asian satellites will see greater investment in the coming months.

Additionally, it's an impressive and eclectic group that Fidelity is hiring on with four major institutions represented. We'll have to keep an eye on how quickly this new unit will be able to gell together.