Fidelity partners with Amazon
Fidelity Investments, seeking to broaden its reach among consumers, has struck a marketing agreement with online retailer Amazon.com to sponsor a financial services "store" and peddle such financial products as stocks and mutual funds on the Amazon website.
Under the arrangement, Amazon customers can access the Fidelity-sponsored store from two different links on Amazon's home page. Once there, they could browse through information and commentary about issues such as college savings and retirement planning and then click on links to Fidelity's website to purchase stocks, mutual funds, retirement accounts, or college savings plans.
Fidelity previously has advertised on Internet portals such as Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. But the deal with Amazon marks its first online partnership with a retailer. The partners didn't disclose financial terms.
"It's part of our ongoing approach to get our products and services out there as broadly as possible," said Sean Belka, senior vice president at Fidelity Personal Investments in Boston. "We're trying to make it as convenient as possible for people to reach Fidelity."
John Bonnanzio, group editor of Fidelity Insight, an independent newsletter based in Wellesley, said the arrangement with Amazon is "definitely unusual" for the venerable mutual funds provider.
"They're right up there advertising with Tire Rack and Weight Watcher on the Amazon website," Bonnanzio noted. "But Fidelity is in a fight for market share. It needs to reach out well beyond its traditional markets. It needs to go where the eyeballs are." (By Robert Weisman, Globe staff)
