Fidelity Plans New Services For Advisors

Fidelity Investments Institutional Brokerage Group in Boston has announced new products and services for investment professionals. They include:

• Fidelity Private Offerings Program. Qualified registered investment advisors (RIAs)–those with at least $25 million custodied with Fidelity and at least one investor who meets the qualified purchaser status–will have access to exclusive alternative investments, including limited partnerships, private equity and venture-capital, private real estate and exchange funds.

• Administrative Trustee Services. This program will allow RIAs to retain investment management responsibilities for client accounts, while Fidelity Personal Trust Co. FSB, as trustee, performs the administrative, custody and reporting functions.

• A redesigned AdvisorChannel.com, a Web site for advisors that provides investment products and services, account and market data, wealth management resources and more.

• For broker-dealers, feeEngine, which offers a flexible, automated fee-based billing platform, and a new performance reporting service so firms can provide clients with detailed, custom reports about their fee-based investment accounts.

Fidelity also recently announced it reached an agreement with Advent Software Inc. in San Francisco to extend for five years Advent‚s support of a point-to-point interface for Fidelity clients currently using the service. Also, Fidelity will participate in Advent TrustedNetwork, which helps deliver consolidated account information from multiple financial institutions to advisors.

For more information, visit www.ibg.fidelity.com.

MSC Unveils Enhancements

Mutual Service Corp. (MSC), one of the nation‚s largest full-service independent broker-dealers, has taken two steps that will improve service to its representatives.

The West Palm Beach, Fla., firm has signed an agreement with BISYS, a large independent distributor of life insurance. This arrangement enables MSC to link its representatives to more than 200 insurance carriers offering fixed-life, long-term care, disability-income and annuity products. For more information, call the MSC New Business Development Department at (800) 749-8900, ext. 3059.

MSC also has introduced its Business Builder Network, formed in collaboration with several major financial services organizations. The network delivers financial products and services to the firm‚s representatives.

The network provides preferred product and service pricing, marketing materials and sales ideas, plus interactive product research and selection. The network soon will offer mortgage services, fixed-income product resources and business succession assistance.

IDEX Launches Fund

IDEX Mutual Funds in Denver, Colo., has launched its Protected Principal Stock Fund, an equity fund with a guarantee of principal after a five-year holding period (less certain loads and expenses). A quarterly offering is running through June 27, and the first investment date is July 1.

Subadvised by Gateway Investment Advisers L.P. and managed by J. Patrick Rogers, the fund invests primarily in S&P 500 Index stocks. Each year, investors may elect to step-up their guaranteed amount and lock in any market gains. Each step-up will result in a new five-year holding period and will change the principal guarantee to the new stepped-up amount. Additional information on IDEX is available at www.idexfunds.com

Allstate Introduces Annuity

The Allstate Corp. in North-brook, Ill., has introduced its Treasury-Linked Annuity, a flexible-premium deferred fixed annuity that provides a guaranteed five-year rate plus the ability to earn additional interest based on the performance of five-year U.S. Treasuries. Allstate has applied for a patent on the annuity.

New Asset-Management Service

Brinker Capital has launched Brinker Capital Managed Portfo-lios, a multi-disciplined asset-management service for financial advisors and their clients. The program combines Brinker Capital‚s investment manager due-diligence and asset-allocation expertise with FOLIOfn‚s back-office brokerage technology.

The program offers independent professional money management and the ability to tailor an investor‚s asset allocation and manager selection. Brinker Capital, based in King of Prussia, Pa., has no affiliation with the investment managers in the program, so managers can be replaced when they should no longer be recommended due to performance or other issues. For more information, visit www.brinkercapital.com.