Fidelity holds exclusive annual conference and gets an unforeseen jolt of energy from Bin Laden's death

Brooke’s Note: I’ve written and heard about this conference for years and I always hear one interesting twist. Not only does Fidelity chairman, Ned Johnson, show up for the event, but he goes strong for the whole three days in small groups and large. It could be a good old New Englander wanting to get his money’s worth out of Clinton’s speaking fee or a noblesse oblige of the Bostonian as proper host who doesn’t want to ditch his guests. I write that half-jokingly as a Maine native. What I’m certain of is that it’s a sure sign that Johnson still has deep reserves of passion about his company — and that must be reassuring to advisors.

A medium-sized group of advisors who use Fidelity as an RIA custodian met last week in Florida expecting good camaraderie, speakers and access to executives.

They got more.

Boston-based Fidelity Investments held its 13th annual Fidelity Investment Forum May 1-3 at the Orlando Ritz Carlton Hotel, just hours after Osama Bin Laden had been killed. President Obama announced the news Sunday night, May 1.

“There was really excitement around the news of Bin Laden,” says John Morris, an advisor and managing partner of Crestwood Advisors LLC in Boston, whose firm manages a little over $750 million in assets for 225 families.

When something like the death of a mastermind terrorist occurs, advisors, like anyone, are trying to get perspective — something that was on tap at the event in abundance. On the lineup of speakers were Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw and CNN host Fareed Zakaria, as well as several Fidelity executives and other industry leaders like David Tittsworth, executive director of the Investment Adviser Association.

Fidelity approaches its annual conference differently from the competition. Instead of inviting every advisor that uses its platform, the company purposefully limits attendance and publicity while also giving advisors access to the nation’s best speakers. Schwab holds a similar event for an even smaller number of advisors. See: A glimpse inside Schwab’s EXPLORE conference

One reason it can do that is that it combines its IBD and RIA annual conventions into a single event, according to Sanjiv Mirchandani, president of National Financial Services, Fidelity’s clearing arm. See: National Financial Services records some wins to ease the pain of Bank of America loss.

“We have some clients in common. We do this together so clients can network across a broader spectrum. We can invest more in the conference and create a better experience,” he says.

Sanjiv Mirchandani: We can invest more
in the conference.

About 575 people attended the conference, including about 336 advisors. The large majority of them were RIAs managing a wide range of assets. While some smaller advisors are invited, many attendees are Fidelity’s top advisors.

“There’s nothing hard and fast about the clients (advisors ) but it tends to be our bigger clients,” says Mike Durbin, president of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services. “We want to make sure we have a cross-section. We’ll invite some prospects.”

One group that doesn’t get invited are (ahem) the media. Morris says that keeping reporters —and other outsiders — out is a selling point.

“There’s a sense of we’re having these conversations in a comfortable enviroment,” he said.

Not afraid of controversy

Fidelity executives say they try to set up the conference with topics that are newsworthy and important to advisors.

Mike Durbin: There was hue and
cry to bring him back.

But Durbin admits that they never could have planned that Zakaria would be speaking just hours after Bin Laden’s death.

Zakaria spoke last year, and Durbin says it’s unprecedented to bring back a speaker a second year in a row.

“There was hue and cry to bring him back,” he says. “Here, we happen to bring him back 12 hours after this transpired in Pakistan.”

In addition to the top speakers, advisors say they enjoy the break-out sessions, which often trigger debate among advisors. Many of the break-out sessions include topics that are crucial to how advisors run their businesses.

For instance, one session was focused on whether firms should hire a business development officer to drive growth. Scott Dell’Orfano, executive vice president of sales and relationship management, was part of a panel that discussed the pros and cons of hiring a relationship manager. See: Fidelity steps up effort to bestow its marketing magic on RIAs.

Not all advisors agreed with the idea of hiring a business development officer.

There was debate on this very issue, says John R. Hill, CEO of Pinnacle Advisory Group, an RIA with nearly $1 billion in assets.

For his part, Hill opposes the idea and would never hire a business development manager – or a rainmaker who would simply bring in assets and then pass off the clients to someone else.

“Our advisor teams are all responsible for managing relationships,” he says. “I just don’t like that idea at all.”

Other big sessions focused on ways to make the most of brokers on the move and focused on “best practices” for recruiting.

Another key speaker was Kelly Decker, of Decker Communications, who spoke about creative techniques she offered to help advisors better communicate with clients.

Access to top brass

Advisors say one of their favorite parts of the conference is that they get to have face-time with key executives. For instance, Edward “Ned” Johnson III, CEO and chairman since 1977 attended all three days of the conference. See: What happened at Fidelity’s RIA conference this year.

Ned Johnson lent his considerable presence
during the whole event.

“He thoroughly enjoys the conference and clients (advisors) love seeing him,” Durbin says. “He’s one of the first people at every reception and one of the last to leave.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s daughter Abigail “Abby” Johnson, who is vice chairman for FMR LLC and president of personal, workplace and institutional services, also attended the conference. She’s often considered the front-running candidate to assume control of the company when her father retires.

Other Fidelity higher-ups who attended and mingled with RIAs include Gerry McGraw, president of Fidelity Institutional. Ron O’Hanley, who oversees asset management, was also on hand.

Caution

While advisors were upbeat about the past performance, there was clearly potential concern about what might transpire in the future, Hill says.