Fidelity brokerage clients now have an opportunity to participate in IPOs underwritten by Credit Suisse, according to both companies.

Fidelity Investments and Credit Suisse Securities today announced an agreement that gives Fidelity clients access to initial public offerings (IPOs) and follow-on equity offerings underwritten by the investment bank.

Credit Suisse is the nation's second-largest underwriter of U.S. listed IPOs, according to Fidelity.

The agreement expands Credit Suisse’s potential investor base to include millions of Fidelity retail brokerage customers, as well as Fidelity’s registered investment advisor (RIA), correspondent broker-dealer and family office clients.

In the first half of 2014, Fidelity Capital Markets participated in 174 IPO and follow-on transactions, which is up more than 30 percent from a year earlier, according to Fidelity.

More than 50 percent of 2,500 affluent and high-net-worth clients surveyed by Fidelity last year said they invested in IPOs or were open to the idea, according to Fidelity.