Geode Capital Management

History[edit]

Geode was originally set up by Fidelity Investments in 2001 to run systematic long/short equity strategies and to incubate new strategies.^[2] Fidelity initially committed $229 million to Geode Capital, which was computer-driven as an investor, with Fidelity executive Jacque Perold installed as the head of the firm. Perold was later succeeded in 2007 by Vince Gubitosi, who in 2021 was succeeded by Bob Minicus.^[3]


In 2003, Geode was spun off as an independent company.^[2] A possible reason was to avoid the potential conflict of Geode shorting stocks held by Fidelity's mutual funds.^[4] Although separate from Fidelity, it remained located near Fidelity's headquarters on Summer Street in Boston. It continued to manage Fidelity's passive funds as a sub-adviser, according to the Financial Times in England.^[5] That year, in 2003, Fidelity Investments hired Geode Capital Management to subadvise on three Spartan equity index funds.^[6]


In 2020, it had almost $720 billion assets under management with around 140 employees.^[7][8] In February 2021, the firm was profiled in the Wall Street Journal, with the paper calling it Fidelity's "Secret weapon".^[7][8] During the same month, the firm shut down its hedge fund business following losses due to derivatives.^[9]


At the start of 2022, Geode surpassed $1 trillion in assets under management due to the popularity of index funds.^[5]