BOSTON, June 27, 2011 – Fidelity Family Office Services (Fidelity), a leading provider of custody, brokerage and investment services to more than 140 ultra-high-net-worth, single family offices, today announced that it has strengthened its philanthropic solutions through a new alliance with Foundation Source®, the leading provider of support services for private foundations.
Family offices that work with Fidelity now have access to Foundation Source’s back-office administration tools and online platform as well as experienced philanthropy and private foundation advisory specialists. The offering, which adds to Fidelity’s existing philanthropic tools and resources, allows family offices to take a more flexible approach to managing their private foundation(s) -- from administration and reporting to the coordination of tax preparation, compliance support and investment management.
“In an age where charitable dollars are tight, yet the call for philanthropy is on the rise, family offices are becoming even more strategic in their giving,” said Edward J. Orazem, president, Fidelity Family Office Services. “Family offices also are looking to ensure their charitable structure is maximizing their ability to meet their philanthropic goals. By working with a respected organization such as Foundation Source, Fidelity’s family office clients will have greater access to tools and specialists that can help them to more effectively operate their foundations and minimize the administrative challenges that often are associated with managing them.”
“In managing private foundations, today’s family offices require flexibility and efficiency. Our back office services and online platform make it easy to establish and operate a private foundation, while our experts help develop strategies to achieve philanthropic goals,” said Andrew Bangser, president of Foundation Source. “We are enormously proud to work with Fidelity's state-of-the-art custody, brokerage and investment services. Our combined offering provides a powerful and sophisticated solution for family offices.”
New Alliance Supports Core Needs of Private Foundations
The new offering is designed to help family offices minimize the burdens and risks associated with starting and operating a private foundation and includes:
· Back-Office Administration: Families, directors and staff can be assured they have the administrative support they need to keep their private foundation running smoothly and compliantly with federal and state laws. This includes transaction processing, compliance monitoring, federal and state filings, and advanced back-office services.
· Web-based Platform: Foundation staff can monitor and manage day-to-day foundation activities via an online platform, including research capabilities so that family offices can conduct due diligence on IRS-approved charities, flexible grantmaking and expense tracking options, and an online reporting and document archive system for storing, organizing and sharing foundation documents.
· Support Services: Family offices can work directly with their dedicated Fidelity client service manager and support team to help keep the foundation operations running smoothly and, when needed, engage Foundation Source specialists in areas of philanthropy, tax, legal and accounting services.
· Advanced Foundation Services: In addition, family offices can receive tailored expertise from Foundation Source professionals on governance and family engagement surrounding the foundation’s philanthropic efforts as well as effective charitable best practices (e.g., program development, executive director coaching and social change strategies).
Fidelity Offers Various Philanthropic Tools for Family Offices
In addition to the new Foundation Source relationship and as a part of Fidelity’s open architecture approach, Fidelity provides family offices access to Fidelity Private Foundation Services® and to Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund’s (“Gift Fund”) donor-advised fund. Fidelity takes a consultative approach to helping family offices identify the foundation administration solution that best meets their needs:
· Fidelity Private Foundation Services: This integrated offering supports private foundations, whether organized as nonprofit corporations or trusts, in any state.
· Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund: The nation’s largest donor-advised fund program and one of the largest public charities in the country, the Gift Fund allows family offices to combine favorable tax benefits with the flexibility to support favorite charities. This solution can be used as an alternative or complement to a private foundation.
“As family offices work to help facilitate more impactful giving for their family members, it is increasingly important for custodians to provide the tools to make this happen,” said Orazem. “Through our existing philanthropic solutions and now with the Foundation Source alliance, Fidelity is better able to help family offices determine the giving vehicle that is most appropriate for their unique needs.”
About Foundation Source
Foundation Source® is the nation’s leading provider of support services for private foundations. The company’s back-office, online and support services allow foundations to focus on their mission, strategy and family priorities while spending less time on administration and compliance tasks. The result: better run foundations with greater social impact. Foundation Source was recently named Philanthropic Group of the Year by the editors of Private Asset Management. Foundation Source provides its full range of services to nearly 1,000 private foundations coast-to-coast representing over $4 billion in foundation assets. The company is headquartered in Fairfield, Conn., with regional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle. For more information about Foundation Source, visit www.foundationsource.com.
About Fidelity Family Office Services
Fidelity Family Office Services was established in 2004 to serve the sophisticated needs of family offices. The firm provides custody, brokerage and investment services in addition to reporting and administrative capabilities. As a dedicated business unit, Fidelity Family Office Services provides objective guidance and access to investment products as well as a seasoned service team to support the needs of family office executives. As of May 31, 2011, the company provided services to more than 140 family office clients across the U.S., with more than $25 billion of assets in custody with Fidelity. For more information about Fidelity Family Office Services, visit https://familyoffice.fidelity.com.
About Fidelity Investments®
Fidelity Investments is one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, with assets under administration of $3.7 trillion, including managed assets of more than $1.6 trillion, as of May 31, 2011. Founded in 1946, the firm is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and many other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals and institutions, as well as through 5,000 financial intermediary firms. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.
Foundation Source is a third-party service provider and it is not affiliated with Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity Family Office Services is a division of Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC.
The Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund ("Gift Fund") is an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program. Various Fidelity companies provide investment management and administrative services to the Gift Fund.
Fidelity, Fidelity Investments with the Pyramid Design logo, and Fidelity Family Office Services are registered service marks of FMR LLC.
Clearing, custody or other brokerage services may be provided by National Financial Services LLC, 200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA 02210 or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917, Members NYSE, SIPC.
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