Fidelity reports new highs for sales, income
Boston-based Fidelity Investments saw record revenue of $15.9 billion last year, a 3.4 percent increase over 2015, reflecting the company’s strength as a broadly diversified financial services company, a spokesman said.
Healthy revenue growth and slightly lower expenses also resulted in record operating income of $3.5 billion, a 19.5 percent increase, according to the annual shareholder report released yesterday.
Fidelity kept expenses at $12.4 billion — just under 2015 levels — with a workforce of about 45,000, including 5,000 in Boston, that was about the same as at the end of 2015, said Vincent G. Loporchio, senior vice president.
“The diversity of our business and careful expense management helped Fidelity deliver strong financial performance last year,” Loporchio said. Fidelity began a multiyear cost-cutting push last year, Chairwoman and CEO Abigail Johnson told shareholders in a letter.
“Growing market share and customers while simultaneously reducing unit costs requires discipline and creativity,” Johnson said, “but doing both well is a competitive imperative.”
The company had strong growth in customer accounts, servicing 27.5 million workplace plan participants, 8.9 million retail households and 8.7 million institutional accounts at year’s end, up 6 percent, 6.8 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, over the end of 2015, Loporchio said.
Fidelity also recorded $218.9 billion in total asset flows, up 15 percent over 2015, he said.
Personal investing closed the year with $1.72 trillion in customer assets under administration, up 9.8 percent over 2015, and 17.9 million customer accounts, up 6.5 percent. Fidelity remains the No. 1 provider of IRAs.