Fidelity’s Brokerage Client Assets Up 15%

Fidelity Investments said brokerage client assets increased 15% to $1.02 trillion in the third quarter as the company made strides to lure customers from the likes of Charles Schwab Corp.

The number of client accounts increased to 13.7 million, a 6% gain from 12.9 million in the same period a year earlier, the Boston-based firm said in a statement. Fidelity has 9.7 million individual brokerage customers and serves 300 brokerage firms and more than 2,400 investment advisors.

Fidelity, the world’s largest mutual fund company, has been cutting fees and adding services to win market share from brokerage rivals such as E-Trade Financial Corp., Ameritrade Holding Corp. and San Francisco-based Schwab, as well as Vanguard Group, the leading manager of index funds.

Although industry trading volume and asset growth slowed in the third quarter from earlier in the year, “we continued to see strong performance across our business,” Ellyn McColgan, president of Fidelity Brokerage Co., said in the statement.

The company lowered stock commissions last week by one-third for customers with low balances or trading levels. And Fidelity recently cut bond trading fees by as much as 75%.