Fidelity's AUM Grew 35% in Q1 as New Accounts Doubled
Total assets under administration grew even faster; nearly 40% of new accounts were opened by investors 35 or younger.
Fidelity reported strong growth in the first quarter of 2021.
Assets under management grew 35.4% to $3.9 trillion compared with the year-ago quarter. Assets under administration, which includes those under management, grew 42.6% to $10.4 trillion.
New account openings more than doubled (up 156%) to 4.1 million, and almost 40% of those accounts were opened by investors 35 years old or younger. Those account openings were up 223% from Q1 2020.
By the end of the first quarter, Fidelity accounts totaled 83.4 million, up 12.1% from the year-ago quarter, and they included 9.7 million accounts with Fidelity Institutional, which grew by 400,000.
Trade order volume in Q1 2021 was also strong — 1.7 times higher than the same period in 2020 — and all 10 of the firm’s highest volume days occurred during the quarter. Total average trades grew 59.1% to 3.5 million. Health savings account assets grew 60% to over $10 billion.
Fidelity’s first quarter was also marked by new and expanded services. The firm grew its lineup of separately managed accounts (SMAs) to help advisors meet the growing demand for tailored investment management solutions; launched ESG Pro to support the growing demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing; introduced a pooled employer retirement plan for small businesses called the Fidelity Advantage 401(k); and added to its mobile app, Fidelity Spire, trading capabilities and expanded resources to teach young adults about trading, investing and saving.
In addition, Fidelity launched two new actively managed ETFs — the Fidelity Investment Grade Bond ETF (FIGB) and Fidelity Investment Grade Securitized ETF (FSEC) and filed for a Bitcoin ETF.
The privately held firm has been an early adopter of cryptocurrency services, offering custody and trade execution services for crypto assets since 2019. Last year it launched a Bitcoin fund for wealthy investors and let clients on its digital assets custody platform pledge Bitcoin as collateral for cash loans. Last month it formed a crypto lobbying group with several other investment firms.