Fidelity Australia’s national accounts manager for NSW and Queensland, Tom Keenan, resigned on Friday and will soon resurface at another global asset manager.

I&T News understands that Keenan will take on a marketing role, focused on platforms, with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), after ending an 18-month term with Fidelity. BGI recently launched another foray into the retail market, bringing eight exchange traded funds (ETFs), based on international indices, into the listed Australian market. BGI expects a trend to fee-for-service financial planning will trigger interest in the vehicles, which it calls iShares, enabling it to further reach into the domestic retail market. With 190 ETFs and approximately half of the $US700 billion global market, BGI is the world’s largest ETF supplier. It plans to list more vehicles in Australia before early 2008. Before BGI entered the local ETF market, State Street Global Advisors was the primary issuer of ETFs to Australian investors. A Fidelity spokesperson said the manager was searching from within and outside the company to replace Keenan.