Ken Fisher, the founder of Fisher Investments who brought hundreds of well-paying jobs to Clark County in the depths of an economic slowdown, is stepping aside as CEO of the Camas-based financial management firm, the company announced Tuesday.
Taking Fisher’s place leading the 2,000-employee company will be 41-year-old Damian Ornani, who has been with the company for 20 years.
“Clients should expect from us the same dedication to service, education and capital markets innovation that we’ve had since our founding,” Ornani said in a news release.
Fisher, 65, will stay on as executive chairman and co-chief investment officer, remaining “as active as ever” in investing strategies and long-term planning after leaving the CEO position in July, the company said.
“With our ongoing growth in clients, assets under management, employees and our expanding presence on four continents, it’s a natural evolution to separate the management and investment functions,” Fisher said in the release.
Company spokesman David Eckerly explained in an email that the change in leadership “simply means allowing Ken to focus on investments and Damian to focus on business management.”
The changing of the guard for a company that manages $65 billion in investments was not unexpected. Fisher had issued a statement last year stating that he intended to step down as CEO sometime in 2016.
“As Damian assumes this role, I will devote more of my time and energy to the areas where I provide the most value to our clients, including guiding the firm’s investment strategies,” Fisher said in the release. “I’ll also continue spending time with clients and the public, just as I do now.”
Ornani becomes CEO effective July 1. He currently serves as the president of private client acquisition and service, overseeing 70 percent of the company’s 2,000 employees. Ornani lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and spends his time between all the firm’s worldwide offices, the company said.
Fisher did not respond to a Columbian request for further comment, but told InvestmentNews: “I’m going to be working my normal 60 hours a week. I’m not going anywhere.”
Fisher Investments was founded in 1979 in the Bay Area. The company opened a Vancouver office in 2007 and opened what became its headquarters in Camas in 2011.
Fisher brought hundreds of well-paying jobs to Clark County at a time when the region needed them the most. His employees helped juice an otherwise sluggish local economy by purchasing homes and spending money on other local goods and services.
Last year Employment Security Department regional economist Scott Bailey said the Clark County economy has benefited greatly from “multiplier effects” from “some of the bigger fish that have come in,” like Fisher Investments and PeaceHealth.
Today nearly 1,000 people work at Fisher Investments’ Camas campus, which has two five-story buildings. The company says it has capacity to accommodate 1,800 employees in Camas.
Forbes listed Fisher earlier this year as the 206th-richest person in the United States with a net worth of $3.1 billion. Fisher is also the author of many investing books and a column for Forbes. Outspoken — some may say brash — he also has a knack for some irreverent sayings in public appearances. But he also showed an appreciation for the community that had embraced his company’s expansion.
“I’ve got a lot of class and all of it’s low. I got a lot of taste and all of it’s bad,” Fisher said at The Columbian’s Economic Forecast Breakfast in 2015. “I see all these people who suffer from inferiority complexes who want to go and be a foodie in Portland. I will do that when I’m dragged across the river.”
Fisher is the father of three adult children and lives with his wife, Sherri, in Camas.
