Fidelity Investments gets ready to serve customers in web3 communities with the opening of its first immersive metaverse experience aimed at offering a new way to learn investing basics.
The platform is the latest move by Fidelity to create innovative ways to serve customer needs, especially the next generation of customers, as it becomes the first leading brokerage firm to offer an educational metaverse experience. The initiative is aimed at addressing customers in web3 communities.
David Dintenfass, chief marketing officer and head of emerging customers at Fidelity, said:
“We’re part of a dynamic shift as young people take control of their finances in new ways. The next generation seeks out financial education in all the places they spend time, whether physical or virtual. We’re committed to serve customers in these decentralized communities as they transform and grow.”
U.S.-based Fidelity Investments is a multinational financial services company. Established in 1946, it is one of the largest asset managers in the world with $4.2 trillion in assets under management as of March 2022 and assets under administration of $11.3 trillion.
Fidelity Investments operates a brokerage firm, manages a large family of mutual funds, provides fund distribution and investment advice, retirement services, index funds, wealth management, cryptocurrency, securities execution and clearance, asset custody, and life insurance.
The Fidelity Stack
The Fidelity Stack, built in Decentraland, features a multi-level design complete with a lobby, dance floor, and rooftop sky garden for users to explore on foot – or even through teleport. In the Invest Quest at The Fidelity Stack, users are challenged to traverse the building learning the basics of ETF investing while gathering “orbs” along the way.
Kathryn Condon, head of marketing channels and emerging platforms at Fidelity, said:
“Fidelity is constantly innovating as we re-imagine what it looks like to engage with customers as a trusted financial services company in the future. As Web 3.0 takes shape, Fidelity is excited to bring our expertise in financial education to this new virtual space.”
In addition to providing a primer on different types of investment products, including ETFs, the experience celebrates the launch of Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET), a new thematic ETF that provides access to companies that develop, manufacture, distribute, or sell products or services related to establishing and enabling the metaverse.
This ETF, along with others announced last week, is a self-indexed ETF using Fidelity’s proprietary indices, constructed by Fidelity’s quantitative investing team, to identify equity securities that offer exposure to these rapidly growing industries.
“The way we engage with each other and with our money is rapidly changing, whether that’s through the rise of blockchain technology or development of a new digital universe,” added Condon. “Our foray into the metaverse is designed with this in mind.”
The experience joins the Fidelity Reddit page and Fidelity’s TikTok account as some of the many resources for younger investors to improve their financial knowledge through informative content and actionable insights.
Companies exploring metaverse to build new user experiences
Leading financial firms are exploring metaverse to build new user experiences. Last month, HSBC forayed into the metaverse with multiple partnerships with Web3 firms, including the Sandbox and Animoca Brands. The investment banking giant will develop a plot in the Decentraland metaverse to engage and connect with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts. In February, JPMorgan opened a virtual lounge in Decentraland.
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