Wilson Williams Comments on New Fidelity® Technology Strategy to Meet Rapidly Evolving Needs of Advisors and Investors

BOSTON -- National Financial®, a Fidelity Investments® company and the nation’s 2nd largest provider of clearing services to broker-dealers1, today unveiled a comprehensive new technology strategy that will focus on making significantly larger investments in key areas its broker-dealer clients have indicated would best support their overall growth and efficiency objectives.  This includes enhancements to the firm’s broker workstation, Streetscape®, and the accompanying consumer portal, myStreetscape®.

National Financial’s technology strategy is based on a deep understanding of the industry trends and challenges facing broker-dealers and advisors, as well as the evolving attitudes and behaviors of investors.  Most notably, is that one of the top areas of satisfaction among successful brokers is access to a user-friendly workstation2.

The first in a series of deliverables from the new strategy take advantage of proven, state-of-the-art capabilities from Fidelity’s industry-leading RIA and retail brokerage platforms that include improved design and navigation for Streetscape and myStreetscape, conditional order and trailing stop trading capabilities, along with the extension of margin credit on international securities.  National Financial is also introducing significantly expanded market data and research capabilities for Streetscape and myStreetscape, as well as enhanced money movement functionality and on-demand reporting.  These new features will be delivered to clients over the coming months.

“Our new strategy is about more than new features and functionality, it’s about completely transforming the way advisors approach and conduct their business as well as manage their client relationships,” said Sanjiv Mirchandani, president, National Financial.  “This is a direct result of input from our clients and will enable us to continually enhance our offering and help clients seize opportunities to efficiently grow their businesses.”

Leveraging Best of Fidelity’s Industry-Leading Brokerage Platform
Based on harnessing the technologies, resources and best practices of Fidelity’s retail and RIA brokerage platforms -- most recently reflected in last fall’s launch of Streetscape® Fee-Based Tools, which were ported over from Fidelity WealthCentral® -- the first series of enhancements integrated into National Financial’s new strategy include.

Enhanced Design and Navigation -- Leveraged from Fidelity Wealth Central®, both Streetscape and myStreetscape will receive an enhanced user interface with new streamlined navigation allowing for a better user experience.  In addition, the enhancements will require fewer clicks to view data and will offer the advisor and investor a consistent navigation and presentation experience across the two workstations.

Conditional Orders -- Available on Streetscape and myStreetscape, this advanced order type allows advisors to set triggers for stocks and options based on price movement of stocks or indices.  By migrating capabilities from Fidelity’s retail platform, users will be able to place several different types of orders including Contingent Orders, Multi-Contingent Orders, One Triggers the Other, and One Cancels the Other orders.

Trailing Stops – Utilizing functionality from Fidelity’s retail brokerage platform, this advanced order type is either a stop loss or stop limit order in which the price of the stop adjusts automatically when market conditions move in an investor’s favor.  A trailing stop helps protect profits while providing downside protection.  With a trailing stop order, advisors do not have to manage open stop orders by constantly adjusting for price changes. This enhancement will be available on both Streetscape and myStreetscape.

Extension of Margin Credit on International Securities -- Provides comprehensive margin functionality for international securities.  This enhancement enables advisors and their customers to increase leverage through buying power on marginable international securities.  This represents an extension of Fidelity’s 2009 launch of its online international trading platform that allows brokers to buy and sell securities in 26 countries and 16 currencies from a single brokerage account. 

Market Data – Available on both Streetscape and myStreetscape, advisors and their customers will have access to significantly enhanced market data and research capabilities.  This will allow users to access a new market overview page, economic overviews, global indices, quotes, charting, company profiles, stock/mutual fund screeners and advanced watch lists.

Money Movement – This enhancement to Streetscape features an upgraded user interface design and additional features, including the ability to create, update, and approve money movement standing instructions.

Reporting -- Investments to significantly enhance the reporting capabilities for the advisor and home office of the broker-dealer.  It will include on-demand reporting combined with alerts.

“The enhanced Streetscape is an exceptional product,” said Wilson Williams, president and CEO, Williams Financial Group3.  “It is even more powerful and easier to use, which is essential as advisors need to be able to quickly and seamlessly access news, management tools, positions and research.  In addition, it also includes excellent graphics, which makes it easy to share information with clients.”

“Broker-dealers are increasingly looking to their clearing firms as a strategic partner -- someone who can help them create efficiencies and drive growth,” said Alois Pirker, research director, Aite Group.  “By unlocking the capabilities within the Fidelity brokerage platform, and building other customized solutions, National Financial is building a very unique and hard-to-replicate value proposition among clearing providers.”

“While the depths of the financial crisis appear to be behind us, its effects on the attitudes and behaviors of broker-dealers, advisors and investors are still emerging,” said Mirchandani.  “Recognizing the distinct challenges of various stakeholders, our new strategy focuses on giving our clients access to the solutions they need to help seize opportunities and accelerate their growth.”

About National Financial
National Financial, a Fidelity Investments company and the second largest provider of clearing and custody services to approximately 300 client firms representing over $465 billion in assets under administration (as of Dec. 31, 2010), offers firms access to a comprehensive clearing platform, inclusive of a dedicated service model, a powerful global trading platform, and a source of leading investment solutions, all designed to help them grow confidently.  National Financial’s comprehensive offering enables it to serve broker-dealers of various types and sizes that can serve your evolving needs.  In addition to being a leading clearing provider in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, National Financial leverages the strength and experience of Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest providers of financial services.  For more information about National Financial, please visit www.nationalfinancial.com.

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, with assets under administration of nearly $3.5 trillion, including managed assets of $1.6 trillion, as of Dec. 31, 2010.  Founded in 1946, the firm is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and many other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals and institutions, as well as through 5,000 financial intermediary firms.  For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.
 

1 Aite Group: New Realities in Wealth Management, April 2010.
2 Fidelity Investments Broker Advisor Sentiment Index, December 2010.
3 Williams Financial Group is a National Financial client and beta test user of the new Streetscape® enhancements.

Fidelity, Fidelity Investments, Fidelity Investments and the Pyramid Design logo, National Financial, Streetscape, myStreetscape, and Fidelity WealthCentral are registered service marks of FMR LLC.

Clearing, custody or other brokerage services may be provided by National Financial Services LLC, 200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA 02210 or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917, Members NYSE, SIPC.
 
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