Personal Capital is adding former Fidelity Investments’ executive James Burton to its c-suite, according to a company announcement. Burton will serve as Personal Capital’s first chief growth officer, after working as the chief marketing officer for personal investing and EVP at Fidelity.
At Fidelity, where he worked for a decade, Burton oversaw retail customer acquisition, customer strategy, advertising programs, communications and the personal retirement account business. Prior to this, he spent eight years at Charles Schwab, where he was SVP of the advised investing products division.
The move brings industry experience to the new role at Personal Capital, said Jay Shah, CEO of the firm. “As we celebrate our 10th birthday this week, it's also exactly the right time to step into our next stage of growth," he said in a statement. Earlier this year, the firm added a chief marketing officer from Virgin America, a new director to the board from Lyft and announced branding updates.
Burton has a knack for “using client insights to create and deliver personalized, helpful solutions and experiences,” according to the announcement. His primary focus will be the firm’s wealth management solutions, but he’s been given leeway to “identify value creation opportunities for the company” outside of that mandate.
Personal Capital has already grown by roughly $1 billion in assets from July to today, according to figures provided by the firm, representing growth totaling about $3 billion in assets since the final quarter of 2018. Even with its growth in assets, however, its advisor head count of 130 remains the same as it was in July, according to Rebecca Neufeld, head of PR at the firm. Its employee head count, meanwhile, has grown to over 400 professionals, she said.