Fidelity extends reach via alliance with Australia's Perpetual

Fidelity Investments has moved closer to offering global sales and research by forming a strategic alliance with Australia's largest fund manager Perpetual Funds Management.

Fidelity managing director Brett Goodin said the move would provide Fidelity with a cost-effective way of extending its retail distribution network in Australia.

Under the plan, Fidelity will use Perpetual's trading and research services for domestic equities.

In return, Perpetual will have access to Fidelity's network of international securities research and trading capabilities.

'The idea is not just to make ourselves a fabric of Australia's financial market but to show our commitment to the long-term prosperity of the market,' Mr Goodin said.

He said that in the early 1990s Fidelity reduced its retail presence in Australia to concentrate on the faster growing Asian region.