Our Business Briefs bring you up to date with what’s happening around the county. This Morning:

Vanguard Knocks Fidelity Off the Top Spot in Pensions and Investments

For more than 20 years Fidelity has been top in the Pension and Investments annual survey of defined contribution funds. This has now changed, as Vanguard has overtaken its rival to claim the top spot as the largest manager of defined contribution mutual funds assets.

With growth of 7.9 percent during the last year, Vanguard has now eclipsed Fidelity with a total of $568.2 billion of proprietary funds under management as of June 30 compared to Fidelity’s $528.8 billion.

According to the article, “Kevin Jestice, principal and head of institutional investor services at Vanguard, said the firm has benefited from plan executives’ growing adoption of target-date strategies and index fund tiers and increased participant allocations to those strategies.”

Vanguard also retained target-date strategy leader in 2015 with $221.5 billion in assets, up 22.4% from 2014. Vanguard’s institutional Index-Institutional Plus also came out ahead with the largest domestic equity mutual funds with $59.5 billion, up 16.4% over the 12 month period. While Fidelity’s Contrafund fell to second place, with $58.3 billion, down 5% from last year.

David Pacitti is the New Head of Siemens Healthcare’s North American Business

Siemens Healthcare has appointed David Pacitti to lead its North American business arm. Pacitti will be replacing Greg Sorenson, who is stepping down as CEO after a very successful four and a half years.

Pacitti has a solid background in sales and marketing and comes to Siemens Healthcare from Abbott Vascular where he was the senior VP for U.S. commercial, sales, marketing and operations for the past three years.

He will work out of Siemens U.S. headquarters in Malvern and will be responsible for leading the marketing, sales, service, and support functions across the nation as well as oversight of Canada for the entire Healthcare portfolio.

“David Pacitti’s leadership experience at Abbott and his deep health care industry experience will greatly benefit Siemens as we look to strengthen our vision for the Healthcare business,” said Dr. Bernd Montag, Global CEO of Siemens Healthcare.

Coatesville to Host the Wings of Freedom Tour

From tomorrow until Friday, the Collings Foundation’s Wings of Freedom Tour will be at Landmark Aviation at G.O. Carlson Airport in Coatesville.

The national tour, which will visit 110 cities, features amazing vintage rarities, including several World War II military aircraft such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, and the P-51 Mustang.

“This is a rare opportunity to visit, explore, and learn more about these unique and rare treasures of aviation history.”

The tours will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, and 9 a.m. to noon on Friday. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $6 for children under 12 and include being able to see these historic aircraft both inside and out.

For reservations and more information about 30-minutes flights, call 800-568-8924 or go to www.collingsfoundation.

Platform to Employment Provides Rigorous Training for the Unemployed

Platform to Employment, a five-week preparatory program that focuses on the long-term unemployed, was launched last month in Chester County, renewing hope for many who have been unsuccessfully seeking a job in their field.

The program is based on the successful Connecticut model which placed 80 to 90 percent of participants in jobs in their field by putting the attendees through a job-search and morale-building boot camp.

The program includes mental health support and financial counseling, as well as an updated and systematic approach to job searches. While the process is rigorous, as participants are required spend six hours a day in class, four days a week and another two hours of homework daily, participants take maximum advantage of the opportunity.

“My job search was stagnant for a while,” said Madeleine Keyes of West Chester.”This intense boot camp has been very good to get me back on track.”

Radiate Media and Shout to Me Join Forces to Usher In Next Generation Traffic Information Services

Malvern based Radiate Media has formed a strategic partnership with Shout to Me to bring the next generation of innovative crowd-sourced geo-audio traffic products and services to market.

As a leading independent provider of broadcast traffic solutions, Radiate Media offers both radio and TV a customized audio “shouting” solutions based on the Shout to Me platform. This allows drivers to simply “shout” a short audio description of what they see on the road which is then played on air as an interactive service. Think audio tweeting.

“Combining Radiate Media’s best-in-class traffic products, radio, TV and audio distribution and advertising supported business model with Shout to Me’s innovative products and services provides exactly what our partners, listeners, viewers and advertisers have been asking for,” stated Adam Phillips, VP of Business Development for Radiate Media.