Dan Geraci, formerly of Midland Walwyn and Fidelity Investments in Toronto, is leaving his job as CEO of Boston-based Pioneer Investment Management to be chief of asset management with Hartford-based Phoenix Cos.

Geraci joined Pioneer in 2001 after six years at Fidelity Investments, which included a stop at Fidelity Investments Canada. Before Fidelity he was with Toronto-based Midland Walwyn (now Merrill Lynch Canada).

Geraci was at Pioneer, which had been taken over by UniCredito in 2000, for just 18 months. He said the Phoenix offer was too good to refuse.

At Phoenix, Geraci’s job will be to “increase profitability and margin growth” for the asset-management side of the business, CEO Dona Young told The Boston Globe. Phoenix manages US$54 billion in assets.