College crusader.

Retired architect designs $1 million scholarship fund

As a young boy, James E. Silcott would help his mother collect rent at the apartment buildings she managed and owned in Boston, his hometown. He inherited many of those same rental properties when his mother passed away in 1970. Over the years, Silcott continued to build upon his real estate investments by adding stocks and bonds to the mix. Today, Silcott has a portfolio valued at more than $1 million.

One of the first African American project architects for Los Angeles County, Silcott receives a monthly pension check, having retired in 1984 after 14 years on the job. Now he is eager to give budding architects a head start in their careers. For this reason he earmarked a percentage of his investment portfolio for a personal philanthropic crusade--upon his death he intends to will, in an irrevocable charitable trust, $1 million to his college alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated from its School of Architecture in 1957.

His efforts are twofold--to provide scholarships and financial aid and to bring awareness about the importance of raising money for other historical black colleges and universities, rib help facilitate such lofty goals, he created the James E. Silcott Fund at Howard University 13 years ago. Through personal and outside donations, the fund has grown to $200,000.

Silcott's equity holdings, which make up about 40% of his portfolio and had a market value of more than $260,000 as of mid-December, included 4,000 shares of Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), 2,400 shares of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and 1,000 shares of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). He also owns 200 shares each of Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS).

William G. Buchanan, a vice president and senior investment consultant at Banc of America Investment Services Inc. in Los Angeles, is advising Silcott to reduce the core technology holdings he has held for many years. As an alternative, he says Silcott should tap into mutual funds, some of which include tech stocks in their core holdings.

The Alliance Premiere Growth Fund (APGAX), for instance, invests in a diverse group of large-cap companies that have strong growth potential. While offering him balance and diversification, this fund satisfies Silcott's interest in the technology sector without overexposing him to individual companies.

Besides mutual funds, Silcott should still seek exposing him to large-cap stocks in sectors like financial services and pharmaceutical companies, Buchanan advises. "This will give him continued growth, protect his purchasing power, and help hedge against inflation." His fixed income assets--which account for 60% of his portfolio holdings--are also important to his overall investment strategy.

In addition to exemption from state and federal taxes, his state municipal bond holdings provide protection in bear markets and balance in the face of equity volatility. Silcott is in the process of divesting his real estate holdings altogether and dispersing the proceeds throughout his overall investment portfolio.