Upgrades

Fidelity Investments has followed up the announcement of its partnership with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts under which Fidelity’s retail and institutional brokerage have access to IPOs and follow-on offerings of KKR companies with a similar deal with Deutsche Bank Securities. Under the exclusive deal, Fidelity retail brokerage and RIA, broker/dealer, and other institutional clients will have access to IPOs and follow-on offerings underwritten by Deutsche Bank.

…Pershing announced August 10 that it is now making Black Diamond performance reporting software, which provides a view of all client assets including held-away assets, available to its broker/dealer and RIA clients through Pershing’s new technology platform, NetX360.

…Research released by Fidelity Investments in late July found that while 84% of advisors surveyed had experience with Alzheimer’s among their clients, 96% felt they were not fully prepared to help their clients suffering from the disease, saying they lacked knowledge about the symptoms, did not know where to refer clients, and did not have the financial or legal expertise to guide those clients. Fidelity estimates that the amount of medical expenses that a 65-year-old couple retiring this year will bear in their lifetimes if one spouse develops a cognitive health disease like Alzheimer’s would be $495,000. That compares to $240,000 needed by a couple retiring this year at age 65 without such a debilitating disease. The top three resources the advisors said they need were best practice guidelines, greater understanding of insurance and protection products, and legal advice to assist clients.

…Vanguard has filed with the SEC to offer seven new bond index funds and exchange traded funds by the end of 2009 that track a range of bond indexes. Vanguard already offers five existing bond index funds and ETFs. The new funds will offer ETF Shares and Signal shares with expense ratios of 0.15%, while its Institutional Shares will have an expected expense ratio of 0.09%.

…Metavante and AdviceAmerica announced a partnership under which Metavante will add AdviceAmerica financial planning and advice technology to Metavante’s TrustDesk wealth management platform.

…Natixis Global Associates has launched a new mutual fund called Natixis ASG Diversifying Strategies Fund (DSFAX) in a partnership with AlphaSimplex Group. One of its portfolio managers will be Dr. Andrew Lo, a pioneer in alternative investment strategies. In October 2008, AlphaSimplex launched the Natixis ASG Global Alternatives Fund.