This Product Pro is Leading Vestmark into the Future with Genius Team Dynamics

Vestmark’s strong product vision is driving innovation and market expansion for the team — all supported by a strong company culture.

Written by Brigid Hogan
Published on Jul. 15, 2024
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What sets great leadership teams apart from the pack? According to a recent article in Harvard Business Review, three key characteristics elevate good leadership teams to the next level and help them become “genius teams.”

First, each member of a genius team brings complementary capabilities. Second, the team aspires to reach ambitious achievement. Third, the team is able to generate and manage tension and challenges to help them reach their goals.

At Vestmark, new product leader Corey Fiedler is helping the executive team serve a fast-evolving wealth management market while supporting the development and launch of products that help the company expand into new segments of the market.

With two decades of experience, Fiedler brings a deep wealth of experience to the role and has a strong vision for the future of Vestmark’s products and services. Thanks to Vestmark’s strong company values, Fiedler has been quickly enabled to advance her vision for the product team and empower her team to succeed.
 

Vestmark’s Core Values

  • We before me
  • Knowledge explorer
  • Positive energy
  • Own it


 

“I inherited a great team with very strong subject-matter expertise,” she said. “In my first few months here we have defined and articulated the product vision and strategy and I am encouraging the team to be more outward facing, acting as the voice of the customer.”

Built In Boston spoke to Fiedler about her vision for Vestmark’s team and the future of the company’s products and services.

 

Corey Fiedler
EVP, Head of Products • Vestmark, Inc.

 

What’s your professional background, and why were you brought on to lead this team?

I have always been in product management at fintech firms. I have over 20 years of experience working for a startup as well as large enterprise firms such as Thomson Reuters and Broadridge. I have had a few stints in other roles, but always came back to product management because for me, it is the perfect intersection of strategy, client interaction, innovation and execution. For the past 10-plus years, I have been leading teams of product managers, product owners, program managers and UX/UI designers.

I joined Vestmark nine months ago. Vestmark has been in the wealth management business for more than 20 years with a strong core client base but is also prioritizing innovation and growth, which was extremely appealing to me. My main objectives thus far have been focused on building out the product team, defining our product strategy and prioritizing our product roadmap to maximize impact.

 

How would you describe your approach to leadership, and how do you plan on building team culture?

As a product management leader, my goal is to build a team that feels empowered, is intellectually curious and is client driven. I am a mentor and a coach, providing them guidance, feedback and opportunities for professional growth. At times, I need to lead by example; sometimes that means digging in, understanding a problem thoroughly so I can provide direction, or it means collaborating to ensure any potential blockers are removed for my team. 

 

“As a product management leader, my goal is to build a team that feels empowered, is intellectually curious and is client driven.”

 

Vestmark already has a tremendous company culture with an existing set of core values. Starting with these values, I have focused on building trust with the team and encouraging open communication, collaboration and feedback. Every team member understands their role and how their work contributes to the overall product strategy. We have regular team meetings where we celebrate success and analyze challenges for improvement.

 

What project are you most excited to tackle, and what is its impact?

I was excited to join Vestmark because we have an existing product — Vestmark One — which is best in class among enterprise wealth managers. We handle complex portfolio management, trading and rebalancing, enabling our clients to efficiently manage and trade customized client portfolios through our SaaS platform. We also recently launched VAST, an outsourced portfolio management solution, that leverages our core competency but expands to offer ongoing tax management and tax transition services. 

With these products, we see a budding opportunity among smaller wealth managers who may be outgrowing their existing workflows and need a more robust platform. Therefore, our product strategy is threefold — first, continue to innovate within our core product, adding features to support changing investment options offered by our clients; second, support growth on the VAST platform; third, build new modules and features that support an end-to-end advisor experience allowing us to expand into a new segment of the wealth management market.

 

 

Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Images provided by Shutterstock and listed companies.