Short Takes: Fidelity Prospectuses Push Broker Fund Sales

Fidelity Investments has added some bells and whistles to its prospectuses in a stepped-up effort to persuade bank customers that they are better off buying mutual funds through a broker.

In a 12-page booklet distributed with its prospectus for the Advisor Funds, the company spells out mutual fund basics and promotes the benefits of working with brokers.

"It is your investment professional's business to get to know who you are and what you want to achieve with your investments," says the booklet, which serves as a wrapper for the fund family's prospectus.

The Advisor Funds are sold through banks and broker-dealers, whose brokers charge up-front or deferred sales fees for investment advice.

The Boston-based mutual fund company added the information at the request of broker-dealers that sell the funds, said Paul Hondros, president of Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co.

Fidelity manages $324 billion in mutual funds, including the $19 billion-asset Advisor Funds.

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