Heir apparent: Abby Johnson could take reins at Fidelity from dad one day

But it is taking a while. This is no case of a young ingenue suddenly getting catapulted into the top spot. Sure, Abby no doubt climbed the ranks faster than she otherwise would have. She ran her first fund in 1993 and took over the mutual fund division in 2001. Since 2005 she's been running Fidelity's employee benefits group and more recently was made vice chairman. Meantime, Dear Dad Ned seems to be taking his time giving up the roost. Other Fidelity executives are still considered in contention.

I hope she eventually gets the top job, but what's the rush? Lord knows, Abby doesn't need the money -- she's already ranked by Forbes as the 42nd richest person in the country with $13 billion. We don't know her thoughts, since she is a pretty reserved person and doesn't give interviews that I could find.

If she plans on the same lengthy tenure as Ned, she doesn't need to step into the top spot soon and still have a a good long run. Perhaps she is the one slowing the pace to the top, not wanting to fall victim to the infamous Peter Principle. And Ned would only be doing right by Fidelity if he continues to ponder whether other senior execs at should be considered as candidates for his job one day.

But Abby is his heir and Fidelity is still a family company in many ways. For her, it's not a race to get to the top. The longer it takes for her to win the top position, no doubt the better she'll do when she gets there.