Abby Johnson – Future of Finance Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

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