Abby Johnson has a new role at Fidelity. The daughter of Fidelity Chairman Ned Johnson and heir apparent will take over Fidelity Employer Services Company (FESCo). The position is the first in which she is not a part of the firm's money management arm.

Fidelity watchers speculate that Johnson is being given the assignment as part of her preparation to take over for her father.

FESCo is the home of all Fidelity's employer related business, including its 401(k), payroll, defined benefit and total HR outsourcing. Those businesses are seen as a key part of Fidelity's future.

Johnson had been president of Fidelity Management Research for the past four years. Robert Reynolds, Fidelity's vice chairman and chief operating officer, will help lead FMR as head of a committee overseeing the division. The committee will also include Stephen Jonas, Dwight Churchill, Boyce Greer and Walter Donovan.

Reynolds, a former salesperson in Fidelity's 401(k) business, rose through the firm's employer services business.

Reynolds told Reuters that "This is a big move because we are moving some of our most senior executives around to give them new opportunities, and it is important to the long-term success of the company"

Reynolds added that "this position will help diversify her experience at Fidelity and add to her experience level."

Also moving is Peter Smail, the incumbent FESCo president. He will be taking over a newly created money management division that will be limited to the firm's institutional plan sponsor clients. That unit is expected to be based in Merrimack, New Hampshire. 

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