Fidelity brings services to Amazon

BOSTON – Fidelity Investments said Friday it will sponsor an online financial services “store” on Amazon.com Inc.’s Web site in the company’s first such deal with a major online retail distributor.

The nation’s largest mutual fund company did not disclose terms of its agreement to become the premier sponsor of a new section of Amazon’s Web site. The section provides financial planning information and links customers to offerings from Fidelity’s retirement, mutual fund, brokerage, trading and college savings products. It also features tax tip products and financial advice books.

Sean Belka, a senior vice president at Boston-based Fidelity, said the deal allows Amazon to promote products from Fidelity rivals on the new section of its Web site. But Fidelity will remain the premiere sponsor, with the most prominent positioning for its services, Belka said.

Craig Berman, a spokesman for Seattle-based Amazon, said the deal is part of a broader initiative by the online retailer to expand into new product categories.

Jim Lowell, who runs an independent advisory newsletter called Fidelity Investor, said the sponsorship is part of a move by Fidelity to expand baby boomers’ access to retirement planning tools and other financial services.