FidelityInvestments on Wednesday confirmed a report from NationalPublic Radio that it was no longer holding U.S. Treasury notes thatmature in October.

A spokesman for the mutual fund and investment giant – whichreported nearly $4.2 trillion in assets under administration onJune 30 – emphasized that the firm expected Congress would resolvethe current legislative impasse in time to prevent any significantdefault, but added that it had made adjustments to its investmentmix.

“We're actively monitoring the ongoing debt ceiling discussions,and expect that Congress will take the steps needed to increase thedebt ceiling and avoid default,” wrote Fidelity spokesman SteveAustin in a response to an emailed question.

“While we have confidence that the U.S. will make payments onall U.S. Treasuries, to avoid even the remote possibility of minordelays in payment, we have made small adjustments to our moneymarket fund portfolios,” Austin said.

“Fidelity's money market funds do not own any securities issuedby the U.S Treasury that mature in late October and we haveincreased the amount of cash in our U.S. Treasury funds,” he wrote,adding: “These changes affect only a very brief period of time anda small percentage of our U.S. Treasury holdings.”

Austin reported that executive at Boston-based Fidelity – whichmanages 545 mutual funds – had started discussing the sale ofOctober-maturing Treasury notes last week, but he said the firmdoes share details of the trades it makes for its funds.

He also pointed out that the firm has stress tested its moneymarket mutual funds and found them sufficiently strong.

“Stresstesting is an ongoing process, which we review and update aspart of our portfolio management strategies. In those tests, wetake into account a variety of potential market scenarios andoutcomes,” he said.