Fidelity says it posted record results in B-D lines

Fidelity Investments said its intermediary businesses — those that serve broker-dealers, banks, insurers, registered investment advisers and other institutional clients — set records last year. The Boston-based company said that last year it snagged a record number of “breakaway” brokers, or those advisers who left their broker-dealers to be independent and use Fidelity as their custodian, with 102 — nearly double the number added in 2007. The company also said that its daily average number of commissionable trades was 241,000 last year, up 18% from 2007, with September and October registering some of the highest totals in the firm’s history. Fidelity’s institutional products group — which includes institutional wealth services, Fidelity Capital Markets, Fidelity Family Office Services, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. Inc. and National Financial Services LLC — had nearly $1.1 trillion in assets under administration as of Dec. 31. Capital Markets’ prime services business, which serves hedge funds and other alternative investments, experienced a 127% increase in client assets and a 57% increase in new clients. Capital Markets also saw a 29% increase in par value trades in municipal bonds, certificates of deposit, corporate securities and Treasury securities. The equity group experienced a 95% increase in average daily order flow over 2007. The firm also saw a 36% increase in the number of adviser-sold 401 (k) plans, to 702 last year. Fidelity had more than $2.6 trillion in assets under custody, including managed assets of more than $1.2 trillion, as of Dec. 31.