Fidelity brokerage unit assets rise

Fidelity Investments today said total client assets at its Fidelity Brokerage Co. unit reached a record $1.77 trillion in the first quarter, up 19% from a year earlier. Net new client assets, which include sales of Fidelity and non-Fidelity mutual funds and individual securities, rose 11% to $56.3 billion, Boston-based Fidelity, the biggest U.S. mutual fund company, said in a release. Total client accounts increased 10% to 17.6 million in the first quarter, and daily average commissionable trades were a record 355,690, a 10% increase compared with the same period in 2006, Fidelity said. “This was our strongest first quarter yet for total net new client assets,” Ellyn A. McColgan, president of distribution and operations at Fidelity Investments, said in a statement. “We also saw particularly strong growth in our Institutional Advisor business, reflecting the large number of new clients who have moved to our platform, as well as an increase in assets from existing clients,” she said.