After opening 10 in 2004 the Boston Behemoth plans another six in 2005. Investors in three states will be seeing new Fidelity Investments branches in 2005 as the Boston Behemoth plans to grow its branch network by a half dozen to 107.

The branches will open in California (Del Mar, Roseville and Santa Monica), Florida (Jacksonville and Wellington) and North Carolina (Durham), reports the Boston Business Journal. The paper quotes David Giunta, senior vice president for Fidelity's eastern region, as saying that those cities as areas of growth and opportunity.

He added that they are areas of wealth located near existing Fidelity customers.

The bricks-and-mortar strategy builds on Fidelity's strength as a broker-dealer that can offer customers a wide variety of services beyond mutual fund management. While opening retail branches has not always worked for pure asset managers, brokerages have found that being able to show a local face helps win customers from banks.  

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