Schwab Charitable adds funds, open architecture

Investors in the Schwab Charitable Fund national donor-advised offering now have more investment choices.

The fund from the San Francisco-based Charles Schwab Corp. yesterday announced the additions of four new options and an array of new underlying funds, which now include offerings from other fund groups in a move to a more-open architecture.

The $1.85 billion fund added a socially conscious investing fund to its lineup of individual investment pools, which now total nine, the firm announced this week.

The fund also added three asset allocation pools that are categorized by risk tolerance.

Investors can create their own strategy by selecting a range of individual investment pools or pick an asset allocation pool that has a set strategy.

In addition, the 10-year-old fund moved from exclusively using Schwab mutual funds to an open architecture for the underlying investments in the pools.

The pools include funds offered by Pacific Investment Management Co. of Newport Beach, Calif.; the Denver-based Janus Capital Group; American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo.; Parnassus Investments of San Francisco; and Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. of Fairport, N.Y.

The fund also launched an investment advice tool. After a donor answer six questions involving the time horizon for the investment, risk tolerance and goals, the program will present them with recommended investment options.

While assets have increased since Dec. 31, when the fund held $1.83 billion, the market downturn has had an impact on contributions, which dropped to $482 million through June 30, from $887 million a year ago, representing a 45% decline.

However, Schwab’s granting to charities increased to $392 million through June, from $369 million through June 2008, representing a 6% increase.

“People set aside money in good times and continue to grant in times that are not so good,” said Kimberly Wright-Violich, president of Schwab Charitable.