Fidelity enters the metaverse with financial education

ETFs and NFTs are very different, but Fidelity is bringing them together for an educational experience on virtual platform Decentraland. The brokerage firm has launched The Fidelity Stack, a metaverse activation aimed at teaching consumers about investing, stocks and other financial topics. The plot includes a lobby, dance floor and rooftop sky garden for users to explore, as well as gamified educational tools like the Invest Quest, in which a player must learn the basics of exchange-traded fund (ETF) investing in order to traverse a building and collect “orbs.” Metaverse glossary for brands The metaverse is a novel place to offer financial services but could help Fidelity to draw more interest from younger consumers. Havas Media and production studio Unit9 designed the experience to “[evoke] the spirit of play and discovery inherent in these environments that we knew would resonate with the next generation of investor,” Havas Media said in a statement. Brands across categories have been entering the metaverse for similar reasons, such as Nike and Hyundai, which both launched branded experiences in Roblox. Others have filed trademark applications to bring their services to virtual environments, from CVS to Arby’s to American Express. Financial education may have a welcome role in the metaverse given its relation to cryptocurrency, which is still an unfamiliar subject for many consumers. Platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox utilize cryptocurrencies to support their underlying economies, which include assets like land that are formatted as NFTs. While Fidelity did not state any crypto-specific agenda, its new activation celebrates the launch of Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET). FMET is the firm’s new fund that offers access to companies that are focused on establishing and enabling the metaverse by identifying equity securities relevant to the space. Sign up for Ad Age’s Metaverse Marketing newsletter. Meanwhile, Fidelity has attempted to draw interest from younger consumers by inhibiting their other favorite channels. The firm regularly posts content on its official TikTok account and engages with audiences via its Reddit page. “We’re part of a dynamic shift as young people take control of their finances in new ways,” said David Dintenfass, chief marketing officer and head of emerging customers at Fidelity, in a press statement. “The next generation seeks out financial education in all the places they spend time, whether physical or virtual.”

Fidelity enters the metaverse with financial education

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