American Century won’t backpedal on Lance Armstrong’s charity

Lance Armstrong may have given up his fight against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, but mutual fund firm American Century Investments isn’t giving up on him.

Mr. Armstrong, the famous cancer survivor and bicycling superstar, was officially stripped of his seven Tour de France titles Friday after he announced that he would no longer fight charges he used performance-enhancing drugs. He did maintain his innocence, however.

The new blight on Mr. Armstrong’s record isn’t giving American Century, which has a suite of target date funds tied to Mr. Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation, any concerns, the company said.

“We have a shared passion for fighting cancer,” said company spokesman Chris Doyle. “Our relationship is with the foundation and we will continue to support Livestrong. Regardless of how this case turns out, you can’t take away what Lance and his foundation have done for the 28 million people in the world living with cancer.”

American Century launched the Livestrong target date funds in 2004. The partnership was a good fit: Its founder, Jim Stowers, and his wife Virginia both are cancer survivors and more than 40% of the firm’s profits go toward funding the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

The target date fund family holds more than $5 billion in assets. American Century donates a flat fee, which it does not disclose, to Livestrong, which it increases based on the amount of assets in the funds, according to the firm’s website.