Fidelity Investments has merged its private wealth management arm into its global asset allocation and personal investing division.

Boston, Massachusetts-based Fidelity Investments has merged its private wealth management arm into its global asset allocation and personal investing divisions, resulting in the departure of the former unit’s president, Dave Lamere.

The firm confirmed to this news service that Lamere, who joined Fidelity in 2012 specifically to launch the private wealth management offering, has left to pursue other opportunities. The PWM division no longer exists as a standalone unit.

Earlier in his career, Lamere spent 27 years at BNY Mellon, including a stint as chief executive of BNY Mellon Wealth Management, from which he resigned in 2010 and was replaced by current CEO Lawrence Hughes. Prior to the merger of The Bank of New York Company and Mellon Financial Corporation in July 2007, he was president of private wealth management at Mellon Financial Corporation.

As a result of the structural changes at Fidelity, Roger Hobby, executive vice president, now leads wealth management, which the firm said is part of its personal investing division.

Background
In 2012, Fidelity’s asset management and personal investing units established a private wealth management initiative to serve the estate, tax and wealth planning needs of the firm’s wealthy clients.

“What began as a small wealth management pilot offering in a few select regions of the US has today grown into a fully operational offering serving a number of affluent clients,” the firm said in a statement.

“This program complements Fidelity’s existing network of service providers including attorneys, tax advisors, as well as independent RIAs through the Wealth Advisor Solutions (WAS) programme.”

The “timing is right,” Fidelity continued, to integrate the private wealth management offering into its global asset allocation and personal investing divisions.

The news comes after it emerged last month that Ronald O’Hanley, head of asset management at Fidelity, is stepping down after less than four years in the role, according to two internal memos seen by this publication (view here).

Meanwhile, according to CNN Money, Lane MacDonald is leaving his post as head of private equity investments at Harvard Management, after just four months in the role. He is reportedly to become head of Crosby Advisors, the New Hampshire-based family office for Fidelity Investments' billionaire Johnson family.