Fidelity assets hit $5.9 trillion as revenue jumps to record

Fidelity Investments, the world’s third-largest asset manager, saw assets in its funds rise by $1 trillion over the past year and revenue jump to a record high.

Assets under management, which are held in Fidelity’s own investment funds and managed accounts, hit $5.9 trillion in 2024 from $4.9 trillion a year earlier, the Boston-based firm said Tuesday in its annual report. Revenue jumped 16% to a record $32.7 billion, while operating expenses rose 14%.

Asset-based revenue was helped by the performance of actively-managed equity and fixed income funds, Chief Executive Officer Abigail Johnson said. Fidelity also saw inflows into money market funds, direct-sold index products and managed accounts.

Johnson, whose grandfather Edward Johnson II founded Fidelity in 1946, said the results were boosted by rising markets and interest rate conditions. Assets under administration across the firm rose 20% to $15.1 trillion.

Unlike rivals such as BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc., Fidelity has a number of adjacent revenue-generating businesses outside asset management, including brokerage services as well as administration for 401(k) pensions, that have helped the privately-held company defy the structural changes that are plaguing the wider industry. Active asset managers have grappled with outflows and squeezed margins as investor preferences increasingly change.

In her 10 years atop the firm, Johnson has expanded Fidelity into new alternative investments, including cryptocurrencies, and expanded its passive and active exchanged-traded funds. The firm is also making a bigger push into private markets, including private credit, and in 2024 it raised its first fund dedicated to venture capital investments. Fidelity’s brokerage platform for asset managers also partnered with fund administrator Stone Coast Fund Services to create an offering for hedge funds.