Firm lays off nine percent of its workforce as it looks to cut costs
Fidelity International is cutting roughly1,000 jobs – approximately nine percent of its workforce – globally this year as the asset manager looks to cut costs. The layoffs will affect staff across all business lines and regions during 2024.
The news, first reported by Reuters, is based on an internal company memo signed by incoming Fidelity International president Keith Metters that set the job cuts in motion. Metters was appointed last week to head the business and takeover from outgoing CEO Anne Richards.
The asset manager says the layoffs are in response to a challenging economic environment and it is evaluating its cost base to increase the efficiency of the organization. The job cuts will give the organization additional flexibility and agility to innovate, invest, and provide capabilities to its clients, reports Bloomberg.
The asset-management industry has had a rough two years with declines in stock and bond markets in 2022 and then by investors pulling back due to higher interest rates. Bloomberg says other big money managers, including Blackrock Inc., Wellington Management, and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. have already cut jobs and redirected budgets in response.
UK-based Fidelity International, which spun off from American giant Fidelity Investments in 1980, currently manages over $663 billion.
