RJ and Makay

Fidelity Investments say breakaway brokers are bigger in terms of the client assets they manage, even though these brokers may be shrinking in numbers this year.

In the first nine months in 2010, nearly 120 brokers or teams with a combined $8 billion in assets left big brokerages to form independent firms that use Fidelity for custody services. That’s a 26 percent increase in terms of assets per breakaway, according to a recently released article posted with Reuters.

Michael Durbin, president of the Fidelity business that caters to registered investment advisers (RIAs), says the creation of new independent business models is what is fueling the movement of breakaway teams.