Could the sale of mutual funds attract the attention of non-financial services titans like Amazon, Microsoft, Wal-Mart and Yahoo? Chuck Jaffe ponders that question in his MarketWatch column from yesterday, noting that Bostonians sometimes even speculate that Microsoft, Wal-Mart or Yahoo might someday buy Fidelity.

Jaffe's musings were prompted by a new small-business loan program being tested out by Wal-Mart's Sam's Club stores. Given the huge potential impact of financial reform and various signs of the commoditization of mutual funds, Jaffe opines, perhaps outside buyers with strong existing brands and reach, buyers like Wal-Mart, will be more likely to move in on brokerages' and fund firms' territory. And Wal-Mart or some similar player makes a mutual fund move, Jaffe predicts that buying is more likely than building. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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