BOSTON – Fidelity Investments announced today that it will cut 1,290 jobs later this month, with an additional set of cuts to come in the first quarter of next year.

The nearly 1,300 workers in the first round of job cuts come to 2.9 percent of the mutual-fund manager’s current global work force of 44,400. Fidelity did not specify the size of the next round of layoffs.

The company’s announcement came as it reported that client assets fell 13 percent in value to $1.4 trillion.

“These are extraordinary times,” Fidelity said in a statement today. “Prudent management warrants that we carefully examine all of our costs.”

The company did not say where the job cuts would take place, but did say that they would be spread out “proportionately” across the company’s work force footprint, according to the Boston Herald. The company has just under 3,000 workers in the Ocean State, at its Smithfield campus and its offices in downtown Providence. The Herald added that the final tally for work force reductions will reach nearly 4,000 by next year.

“Though we regret having to implement any expense reduction that impacts valued employees who have made substantial contributions to our success, we believe this staffing adjustment is necessary,” Fidelity said.

The biggest market losses since the Great Depression and investor withdrawals have lowered Fidelity’s assets under management to $1.4 trillion from $1.6 trillion since Dec. 31, Bloomberg News reported today.

Other leading fund managers – including Janus Capital Group Inc. and AllianceBernstein Holding LP – have also announced job reductions in the past month, Bloomberg said. “The cuts appear to be fairly modest given the scope of what’s happened in the financial markets, but it’s clear that bigger cuts are coming,” said John Bonnanzio, group editor of Fidelity Insight, an independent newsletter in Wellesley, Mass.

Fidelity Investments – the world’s largest mutual-fund manager and a leading provider of financial services – posted global assets of $3.0 trillion including $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of Sept. 30. FMR Corp. is the holding company for operating businesses Fidelity Employer Services Co., Fidelity Investments Distribution and Operations Co. and Fidelity Technology Group. Additional information is available at www.fidelity.com.