Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest mutual fund company, is continuing its aggressive drive to boost sales through banks.
While mutual fund companies have generally become less enamored with banks as a sales channel this year, the Bostonbased industry giant remains bullish on its ability to generate assets from this outlet.
As proof of its commitment to selling through banks, Fidelity plans to spend more on technology and education for bank clients next year, said David L. Liebrock, executive vice president of Fidelity's bank wholesale group.
"We believe we can help banks increase sales and decrease costs with technology," Mr. Liebrock said in an interview.
The company also will focus on educating bank-based sales representatives about new products and the market in general, he said.
Fidelity plans to continue adding new products to round out its Advisor Funds, its main fund family for customers of banks, During the first quarter of 1995, the company also plans to roll out a variable annuity which is currently in registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mr. Liebrock would not yet divulge the full details of his plans for 1995, which will be explained in a letter sent to bank clients the first week of January.
But he did say that Fidelity was on track to increase assets from sales through banks to $100 billion by end of 1995. That's an ambitious goal, given the sales climate this year, and a big jump from the middle of 1994 when assets from bank sales stood at $60 billion.
But Mr. Liebrock said that Fidelity has not been "hit as hard as some of the other fund companies." Because of the shaky stock and bond markets this year, bank clients have had "a flight to quality and Fidelity has been the beneficiary of that," he maintained.
Indeed, Fidelity has fared well in an era when banks have slashed the number of mutual funds they sell from outside fund managers.
Fidelity executives admit that the mutual fund titan was relatively late to start selling its products through banks. But that hasn't hampered its determination to become a major marketer of products through banks.
In a letter sent to bank clients last December, Nishan G. Vartabedian, who was then executive vice president of the bank's services division, promised to devote "greater attention than ever before to the bank market."
As part of that effort, Mr. Vartabedian promised that the company would introduce a computerized service that allows clients to trade directly with Fidelity, expand its product offerings, offer more pricing options, and make its offshore fund family available to banks for distribution to nonresident alien clients.
During the past year, Fidelity also honed its focus on mutual fund sales through banks by splitting its bank services division in two.
Since May, Mr. Vartabedian has focused on the trust side and Mr. Liebrock, who previously reported to Mr. Vartabedian, has taken charge of the bank brokerage side.
"We have achieved more than we set out to do," Mr. Liebrock said.
In addition to the enhancements promised last December, Fidelity has added a number of other products and services. The company launched three versions of asset allocation software for banks. These products help bankbased sales representatives develop portfolios for customers using computer-generated models.
Fidelity also launched a 401(k) retirement planning product designed for bank clients. By yearend, the company will release software for personal computers which helps employees choose investments for their retirement plans, Mr. Liebrock said.
As banks diversify their investment products business, Mr. Liebrock expects that selling retirement plans will be a growing source of assets. As a result, Fidelity will be adding more bells and whistles to its retirement plan products, he said.
