![\"Derek](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/05\/5-featured.jpg\")
<\/a>Those investment strategies are included in 401(k), 403(b) and defined benefit plans, including the popular Fidelity Freedom Funds.<\/p>\n
Young\u2019s business is responsible for $568 billion in assets under management. His team is responsible for managing an array of investment solutions as well as for the online retirement planning and calculation tools on Fidelity.com. It also provides personalized wealth management strategies for Fidelity\u2019s high net worth clients looking to build, preserve and transfer their wealth.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne size fits me\u201d investment plans<\/h4>\n
Today\u2019s investors, Young says, are increasingly choosing plans designed specifically for them. \u201cOur clients are transitioning from \u2018one size fits all\u2019 to \u2018one size fits me,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cMore people are transferring their retirement planning to an investment manager.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether using an investment manager or not, Young says that the most important piece of guidance he can share is \u201cdevelop a long-term strategy and stick with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n“Young\u2019s business oversees $568 billion in assets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe problem for most people,\u201d he says, \u201cis that they pull their money out when they see the market falling and get back in when it goes up. That means they\u2019ve sold low and bought high, which is very different from how they make other purchases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn asset allocation, we favor building a well-diversified portfolio consisting of multiple asset classes focused on your unique risk and return needs to achieve your specific investment goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of \u201cbuy and hold,\u201d Young recommends \u201cbuy and review.\u201d He points to Fidelity\u2019s Freedom Fund, for example, which targets the investor\u2019s retirement date. The diversified, age-based portfolio of mutual funds is reviewed regularly and the allocation becomes more conservative as the retirement year approaches. After the target date passes, the fund becomes even more conservative.<\/p>\n
Save, save, save<\/h4>\n
For young investors, he has three words of advice: save, save, save. \u201cWhat people save in their 20s and 30s is most important for wealth creation and having enough money for retirement,\u201d Young says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most difficult situations I\u2019ve had to watch is baby boomers who are nearing retirement and find that they haven\u2019t saved enough. That means they\u2019ll have to work longer than they planned, or change their lifestyle significantly, or both,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Young keeps a steady eye on market activity and world trends, which affect the balance of assets in any portfolio. He notes that currently, the overall U.S. economy is expanding and benefiting from a decline in oil prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis backdrop should be generally constructive for domestic equities,\u201d he says, adding that global economic trends remain slower. Young does caution, however, that trying to time the market by predicting change is difficult for even the very best investors. \u201cIt is often the source of significant losses for individual investors in particular,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Career kick-start<\/h4>\n
Young began thinking about a career in investment management following an internship with the State of Tennessee between his first and second year at Owen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked with the state pension plan, where we were dealing with large sums of money,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAfter that I decided to work toward becoming a chartered financial analyst.\u201d\u00a0His career received a kick-start one afternoon in 1991 at a gathering in the Management Hall courtyard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill Taylor from the Federal Reserve Bank spoke to Professor Dewey Daane\u2019s class that day,\u201d recalls Young, who was then in his second year. \u201cAfter class I invited him to come to the party. We were talking about the tough job market for MBAs at that time, and he said, \u2018If you send me your r\u00e9sum\u00e9, you\u2019ve got a job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Young took Taylor up on the offer and after Commencement, became a senior financial analyst in charge of derivatives and capital markets for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
He later joined KPMG as a senior manager in regulator risk management practice. \u201cI was trading derivatives, which are important tools when used appropriately,\u201d he says. \u201cMy finance professor, Hans Stoll, had a strong background in derivatives, which was cutting edge at the time. His instruction was helpful to me at the Federal Reserve and with KPMG.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since joining Fidelity in 1996, Young has served as portfolio manager of various funds, managed multiasset-class asset allocation portfolios, served as co-lead of the\u00a0Fidelity\u00a0Canadian Asset Allocation team, led\u00a0Fidelity\u2019s U.S. Asset Allocation Committee and represented North America on the firm\u2019s global asset allocation committee. Before his promotion to president of the company\u2019s global asset allocation division in 2011, Young was Fidelity\u2019s chief investment officer for asset allocation.<\/p>\n
Drawn by collegiality<\/h4>\n
A native of Georgia, Young came to Vanderbilt after earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in 1986 from Troy University in Alabama. He was attracted by the business school\u2019s reputation for faculty and student collegiality.<\/p>\n
Today, the 50-year-old father of two college-age daughters lives and works in Boston. He is a member of the Owen School\u2019s alumni board and says the school\u2019s supportive culture has also stood him well professionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanderbilt MBAs have a unique ability to work in teams and partner with their peers rather than achieving their personal goals at the expense of their teammates,\u201d he says. \u201cThe sum of the whole is more than the sum of its parts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fidelity\u2019s Derek Young, MBA\u201991, says save, save, save<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":8639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8634"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9369,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8634\/revisions\/9369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}