Fidelity Names Abigail Johnson President, Replacing Pozen

Updated from 12:02 p.m. ET

Abigail Johnson, daughter of Fidelity Chairman Ned Johnson, will replace Bob Pozen at the head of the nation's largest fund company on June 15. The move is noteworthy because of the firm's size, but shouldn't lead to sweeping changes.

The Boston fund behemoth, which has more than $900 billion in assets under management, issued a news release just before midday. The 39-year-old Johnson will assume Pozen's post as president of FMR, the sprawling firm's money-management arm. The decision ends rampant speculation about when or if Johnson, a former investment analyst and fund manager who's been with the firm since 1988, would oversee the privately held firm's money managers, traders and analysts.

"From a structural standpoint, this is the biggest news to come out of Fidelity in many years," says Jim Lowell, editor of Fidelityinvestor.com, an independent newsletter. "This confirms the idea that Abigail is taking over the company. She's stepping from behind the management curtain into a very public position." ...