Ronald O’Hanley, head of asset management at Boston, MA-based Fidelity Investments, is stepping down after less than four years in the role, the firm said in two internal memos seen by this publication.

Ronald O’Hanley, head of asset management at Boston, MA-based Fidelity Investments, is stepping down after less than four years in the role, the firm said in two internal memos seen by this publication.

Confirming O’Hanley’s departure, a note to employees from president Abigail Johnson revealed that Fidelity plans to replace O’Hanley with an internal successor, who will be named in the coming weeks. O’Hanley, in a separate memo, said he plans to spend more time with his family and non-profit organizations, before considering a new professional challenge.

“On reflection, the time is right for me to move on,” O’Hanley said, adding that ultimately, he “will pursue other professional challenges, though I have not yet begun to think through that chapter.”

O’Hanley has already begun working with the CEO of Fidelity’s family office, Geoff von Kuhn, to transition the corporate services functions. The memos added that O’Hanley will depart the firm by the end of February.

O’Hanley joined Fidelity in 2010 from Bank of New York Mellon, where he also oversaw money management. He was hired at a time when Fidelity was struggling to recover from the 2008 financial crisis and investors fled the firm’s actively managed stock funds, the firm said.

“Having achieved much of what he intended to do, Ron has decided that it’s now time for him to move on. Ron has effectively led the globalization of our investment team, driven solid investment performance across asset classes, built influential stakeholder relationships, and launched innovative advancements to existing and new products,” said Johnson when commenting on the departure.