We tend to see Fidelity Investments (Fidelity news) as a lot of things: A big mutual fund company; a third-party administrator; a retail brokerage. But few really identify the Boston giant as a custodian and service provider for registered investment advisors, a market in which it has long played second fiddle to Charles Schwab (Charles Schwab news).

But the firm apparently wants to get serious about closing the gap on the market leader--it has announced a new effort to attract more RIAs. The firm's new Client Experience organization aims to give its 4,000 customers a dedicated service team made up of a client service manager and professionals from key function areas--such as asset transfers, new accounts and money movement--who will work closely with their practice, notes Financial Advisor.

The goal is for the service team to function as a partner who will observe practices and point out areas for improvement. This is not the first time Fidelity has committed to better performance in the RIA market. But somehow the results have always lagged expectations. Charles Schwab has a big lead, with $590 billion in assets at the end of 2009, up from $482 billion a year earlier. Fidelity custodied $390 billion, up from $290 billion a year earlier. 

For more:
- here's the Financial Advisor article

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