A look at using Fidelity investments

Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services. Over 29 million people use Fidelity to save for the future through individual and institutional accounts, with more than 400 different funds, and is the largest US mutual fund company with $1.57 trillion of assets under management as of September 2007. Fidelity Investments manages $280 billion of international assets. Fidelity offers a number of financial help as well as a great range of investment products to help you save and invest. Fidelity Investments also operates a major online discount brokerage and has investor centers in about 100 cities throughout the US and Canada, as well in Europe and Asia.

Fidelity Investments includes a large family of mutual funds, their distributors and investment advisors, as well as providing discount brokerage services, retirement services, estate planning, wealth management, securities execution and clearance, life insurance and a number of other services.

Here's a closer look at their many different investments Fidelity offers:

Mutual funds
Fidelity offers more that 175 mutual funds and 4,500 non-Fidelity funds through other financial networks.

Retirement Investments
They have great IRA's that help you save up for retirement. You can also learn how to consolidate your retirement accounts from former employers.

Trading
There are programs available to help you with the right trading decisions.

College plans
You can start an automatic college savings plan with as little as $50.00 per month.

Annuities
You can help boost your retirement savings with a tax deferred annuities or create guaranteed retirement income that can last for life with this an income annuity.

401K's
Work place savings plan products and services are distributed through investment professionals through Fidelity.

Online resources
Fidelity.com has exceptional customer service. You can also use their great online services, which makes investing very convenient. There are a number of online tools such as tutorials and demos, and educational resources. Their connections are even dependable during heavy trading times.

Here are some disadvantages of investing with Fidelity:

Risky funds
Fidelity has a number of fairly risky funds. Fund managers are encouraged to do produce high returns and to do almost anything to get them. Most of the Fidelity general purpose funds are given wide latitude in their investments. This wide latitude sometimes allows the fund to spice up its return, but it can lead to big losses as well.

Expensive commissions
One thing to keep in mind is the cost of Fidelity's commissions. Their commissions cost more than average. A Fidelity account is not the least expensive accounts to open. While you can open an IRA with as little as $500, non-retirement brokerage accounts require a minimum of $2,500. Margin accounts require a minimum investment of $5,000. You can definitely find lower commissions other places. People that don't trade on a regular basis may pay as much as $25 to $30 per trade and about $60 or more for trades that are assisted with brokers. Frequent traders do get significant discounts throughout the year. If you're looking for cheap, you can definitely do better than Fidelity.

If you are seeking a company to help you with your investments, Fidelity could work for you. If you are just started out and wanting a company with low costs, Fidelity may not be the one for you. If you plan on investing multiple times of years and you have a good amount of money to invest, then Fidelity is a great option. Fidelity has a number of services and investments that could be perfect for what you are looking for. As you are seeking a company for you, take a look at using Fidelity investments.