Fidelity Investments on Friday named Scott Couto president of Fidelity Financial Advisor Solutions, the division formerly known as Fidelity Investments Institutional Services.
Officials say the name change reflects the division's heightened focus on providing a range of investment management solutions to financial advisors and other institutional investors.
Fidelity Financial Advisor Solutions works with more than 4,000 financial institutions and 54,000 advisors with assets under management of $385 billion.
Previously, Couto was the division's interim leader. Before that, he was executive vice president, product management and marketing where he oversaw the firm's product suite, investment consulting services, product analysis and marketing.
Couto will report to Gerard McGraw, president of Fidelity Institutional, who leads the Fidelity Investments business that offers clearing, custody and investment management products to help financial professionals, institutions and other intermediaries service their clients and grow their businesses.
Prior to joining Fidelity in 2009, Couto held various positions at Evergreen Investment Management Company LLC, and before that, at Liberty Funds.
"The intermediary business has grown in importance over the years, as more and more investors choose to invest through advisors, Couto said. "Throughout this time, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services (FIIS), and now Fidelity Financial Advisor Solutions (FFAS), has remained focused on delivering investment solutions to meet the needs of advisors and their clients."
Couto says he will increase the division's focus in four distinct areas.
Those areas will include: Raising the level of collaboration and knowledge-sharing across Fidelity; partnering selectively with advisor firms; expanding its sharing of its investment thought leadership in order to enhance advisors' experience with Fidelity; and work closely with advisors to help them benefit our cash management products and services.
Jim McConville