Ingenious Asset Management, part of UK-based investment and advisory group Ingenious, is looking to give bespoke multi-asset investment management to charities.

With the new offering, IAM is targeting charitable bodies with portfolios worth between ÂŁ250,000 ($400,000) and ÂŁ5 million.

The new charity service will be led by Philip Todd, who has previously been in charge of the charities division of Hill Samuel and advised on the investment of National Lottery funds, as well as being a trustee of two charities.

“The sector is in need of a shake-up as too often smaller charities have been poorly served with inadequate explanation of the level of risk being taken and their funds either lumped together into common investment funds or treated the same as private investors,” said Philip Todd, investment director and head of charities at IAM.

IAM manages around ÂŁ1 billion of client assets, primarily in global multi-asset portfolios and collectives such as unit trusts, open-ended investment companies, exchange-traded funds and investment trusts.

Philanthropy is an increasingly important segment of the wealth management industry. At the very high end of the spectrum, wealthy technology executives give billions to charity and run their foundations in the same way as their firms. “Bill Gates seems to have an obligation personally for philanthropy, which is unique in the industry,” said Bruce Rogers, chief insights officer of Forbes Media, when presenting the new report carried out with Societe Generale Private Banking last month.

According to New Philanthropy Capital, citing 2010 data, there are more than 171,000 charities in the UK, overseeing a total of around ÂŁ35.5 billion of assets.