Fidelity units fined over sales pitches

A brokerage industry regulator said Tuesday that it had fined two Fidelity Investments broker-dealer units a total of $400,000 for allegedly misleading U.S. military personnel in sales literature promoting two mutual funds.

The NASD said the alleged violations took place from January 2003 to January 2006 and concerned Fidelity’s Destiny I and II funds.

In one of the violations cited by the NASD, the Fidelity units issued literature with “mountain charts” that showed the funds’ returns over 30 years but masked substantial underperformance in the most recent 15 years.

“We regret these errors and have taken steps to ensure they do not occur in the future,” Fidelity spokeswoman Anne Crowley said. “We do not believe, however, that any of the errors altered the underlying intended message of any of the sales literature.”

Neither Fidelity unit admitted wrongdoing.