This is a securities class action commenced on behalf of purchasers of the Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond Fund who purchased the Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond Fund within three years of the filing of this lawsuit.
Fidelity Management & Research Company is the investment advisor to and subsidiary of, the entire group of mutual funds under the Fidelity name.
The class action lawsuit alleges that on or about August 23, 2002, Fidelity began offering shares of the Ultra-Short Bond Fund pursuant to an initial registration statement. The complaint alleges that Fidelity solicited investors to purchase shares of the Ultra-Short Bond Fund by making statements that described the Ultra-Short Bond Fund as a fund that:
(i) "Seeks a high level of current income consistent with the preservation of capital";
(ii) "allocates its assets across different market sectors and maturities";
(iii) has a "similar overall interest rate risk to the Lehman Brothers 6 Month Swap Index"; and
(iv) is geared toward the "preservation of capital."
As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because defendants did not adequately disclose the risks associated with investing in the Ultra-Short Bond Fund, including, for example, that the Ultra-Short Bond Fund was:
(i) failing to compete with the Lehman Brothers 6 Month Swap Index; and
(ii) so heavily invested in high-risk mortgage-backed securities.
By June 11, 2007, Fidelity slowly began lowering the value of the share price for the Ultra-Short Bond Fund. Since then, the value of the Ultra-Short Bond Fund's share price has been precipitously lowered. By November 15, 2007, the value of the per-share price was reduced below $9. The shares were trading as low as $8.25 as of the filing of the complaint.
Defendant Details
Name (Stock Symbol)
Brief Description
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is an international provider of financial services and investment resources for individuals and institutions. Fidelity Investments is best known for its family of mutual funds.