BMO’s Rotenberg moves to Fidelity Investments

Bank of Montreal’s wealth management head will lead Fidelity’s personal investing division

Bank of Montreal wealth management head Joanna Rotenberg has joined the U.S. executive team at Fidelity Investments.

Ms. Rotenberg, who announced last week that she is leaving her role at BMO, will replace Kathy Murphy as the head of Fidelity’s US$4.1-trillion personal investing division at the end of November. Ms. Murphy had earlier announced her decision to step away from the role before the end of the year.

After more than 11 years with BMO, Ms. Rotenberg was one of the more prominent members of its executive team, having led the bank’s wealth management arm since 2016. Prior to BMO, she spent a decade working at consulting giant McKinsey & Company, where she was a partner.

She will report directly to Fidelity’s chairman and chief executive, Abigail Johnson, and join the Fidelity operating committee.

“Joanna brings to Fidelity a forward-thinking, results-driven approach and a passion for the digital experience,” Ms. Johnson said in a statement. “She will help us accelerate our digital operating model for the benefit of current clients, as well as the next generation of Fidelity customers.”

Fidelity’s personal investing division has about 18,000 employees who serve more than 30 million client accounts with US$4.1-trillion in assets. It includes offerings in financial planning, mutual funds, retirement accounts, exchange-traded funds and college savings plans.

A successor for Ms. Rotenberg has not yet been named, but last week BMO CEO Darryl White said in an internal memo that he expects to do so “in the near future.”

Until then, the bank’s senior leaders in wealth management will report directly to him.