UPGRADES

During its annual conference, Pershing LLC announced healthy growth in the number of RIAs custodying client assets and trust accounts through its Pershing Advisor Solutions (PAS) unit over the past 18 months–45% growth in AUM to $47 billion, or an average of $100 million from its 445 RIAs, according to John Iachello, who heads PAS. The Bank of New York company also launched Managed Accounts Direct, an open architecture platform to support separately managed accounts, specifically tailored to meet the needs of wealth manager RIAs who outsource portfolio management. “We take the operational burden off the advisor,” says Iachello, who pointed out that the advisor still gets to pick the managers…

…Charles Schwab & Co. announced June 14 a broad reduction and simplification of pricing for its retail and Schwab Institutional clients on mutual fund and fixed income trades, and eliminated a number of nuisance fees…

…Calvert Foundation said it has reached $100 million in sales of its Calvert Community Investment Notes, which support affordable housing, small businesses in low-income areas, and microenterprises around the world…