Gerard Benson is an associate portfolio manager within the Global Institutional Solutions (GIS) group at Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing, and other financial products and services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals. GIS is an investment team within Fidelity’s Asset Management Solutions division, an integrated investment, distribution, and client service organization dedicated to meeting the unique needs of the institutional marketplace. In this role, Mr. Benson is a member of the Fidelity Institutional Asset Management (FIAM) Small Cap team and the portfolio manager of the FIAM Small Cap Value strategy. He has a research focus on the small cap financials, real estate, and utilities sectors. Prior to joining Fidelity in 2012, Mr. Benson served as managing director at Hutchin Hill Capital. In this capacity, he was dedicated to the financials long/short equity fund. Previously, he was a director of research at Jefferies Asset Management, primarily focused on the financials hedge fund. Prior to that, Mr. Benson was an analyst covering the financial services sector at Level Global Advisors and Endeavour Capital Advisors. Before transitioning to the investment management industry, Mr. Benson held various roles at Silicon Valley Bank, including credit analyst, senior banker, and director in the corporate finance group. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial and banking industries. Mr. Benson earned his bachelor of science degree in entrepreneurial studies, with a minor in Japanese, from Babson College and his master of business administration degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a CFA charterholder and sits on the board of directors for the BancAnalysts Association of Boston (BAAB).