Fidelity Investments reported that its sales of defined contribution plans to small- to medium-sized firmst grew 40% in 2011, reaching commitments of $6.6 billion in assets by year’s end.
The Boston financial services firm also reported that the number of plans sold with $50 million in retirement assets or under reached more than 1,400, a 57% jump over the same period last year.
Ted Madden, a senior vice president who leads Fidelity’s sales in this market, told Money Management Executive that the company views sales to small- and mid-sized firms as a growth area.
“We have been focused on that sector for quite some time. Our success in 2011 was the result of our focus on execution in the market,” he said.
Michael Harger, a Fidelity senior vice president who works closely with advisors, said his company has had such strong sales in the market, including the first two months of this year, partly because it works with all sectors of the market, and offers them all the same technology.
“The same kind of tech that we offer to a Fortune 100 company we also offer to a company with just 100 employees,” he told MME.
Another factor in its success, according to Madden, is its small client team, which has been trained to leverage Fidelity’s experience with big companies into services specially tailored for clients with small internal staffs.
“For a smaller company, they may have only one person,” Madden said. “They actually need more for helping that person, because that person tends to wear a lot of hats and does a lot of roles.”
