Platform includes more funds plus an asset-allocation tool for clients. Schwab's donor-advised fund Schwab Charitable has expanded selection of investment pools for its gift accounts to include mutual funds from American Century, Janus, Manning & Napier, Parnassus, PIMCO and Schwab's own asset-managment unit.

"We are proud of the breadth and quality of underlying investments in this new expanded offer, which include some of the highest rated mutual funds in their categories," says Schwab Charitable president Kim Wright-Violich. "Given the recent volatility in the markets, it is more important than ever to ensure that Charitable Gift Accounts are appropriately invested to meet philanthropic goals, and we also expect our new advice tool to be very helpful to donors," she added.

Fast growing

Schwab Charitable's 12 investment pools consist of three asset-allocation pools for clients looking for diversification in a single account, and nine individual-investment pools for who want to build investment-pool combinations with differing objectives). Underlying these pools are index and actively-managed funds as well as a socially responsible fund -- all selected as among best-in-class offerings by Schwab Charitable drawing on research from Schwab's Center for Financial Research.

In addition to launching new investment options, Schwab Charitable is alo out with new tool to help donors recommend appropriate investment allocations for their accounts based on their time horizon, granting behavior and risk tolerance.

Tim Kochis of Aspiriant, a Los Angeles and San Francisco-based investment advisory with more than $4 billion in assets under management, says Schwab Charitable's broadened investment platform could put high-net-worth individuals in a position to "give more money to charity by providing them greater flexibility to meet the growth objectives of their charitable gift accounts."

Donor-advised funds are one of the fastest growing charitable-giving vehicles in the U.S., according to the National Philanthropic Trust. There were more than 122,500 account holders with $27.7 billion in assets in 2008. Proponents say they're easy to use, comparatively inexpensive, and offer lower funding barriers (typically $5,000) and more privacy than other charitable vehicles such as endowments and foundations.

Despite the recession, grants to charities from Schwab Charitable increased 6% in the fiscal year ending 30 June 2009.

"In an environment in which philanthropy is more important than ever, I am continually impressed by the generosity of Schwab Charitable donors and pleased that we can facilitate their giving," says Wright-Violich. "In order for us to continue to keep donors in a position where their capacity to give is resilient, we need to constantly monitor and improve our investment options, and that is precisely what these additions are all about." -FWR

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