Despite seeing its core mutual fund business slow down, Fidelity Investments finished a stellar year, thanks to its strategy of building itself up with a booming brokerage business. The Boston Herald reports that while mutual funds are still Fido's "bread and butter," expansion into brokerage, among other new ventures, has paid off handsomely, as the business surged 23% to $1.4 trillion. Contrast that growth to its mutual funds, which didn't climb nearly as much, at 9%.
"It's a story that's often overlooked," John Bonnanzio of Fidelity Insight, which follows the fund manager, told the Herald. "Fidelity has been working very hard to diversify."