District of Columbia, Louisiana at the Top of Savingforcollege.com Q1 529 Plan Performance Rankings
Pittsford, New York (PRWEB) May 21, 2015 -- Two of the smallest direct-sold 529 college-savings plans, offered by the District of Columbia and Louisiana respectively, finished at the top of Savingforcollege.com’s newly-released 529 Composite Performance Rankings for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. The DC 529 College Savings Program ranked first for 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year performance while the Louisiana START Savings Program was first for 10-year performance.
The DC 529 is managed by Calvert Investment Management while Louisiana START is a self-managed plan utilizing Vanguard Funds. The small size of these two 529 plans can be attributed to their state residency restrictions which generally prevent non-residents from investing.
Among direct-sold 529 plans offered nationally, New York, California, Michigan, Maine, Utah, Alaska, and Florida all showed strong performance. The top-10 finishers in each measurement period are detailed below.
In producing its quarterly rankings, Savingforcollege.com compares the reported investment performance of a subset of portfolios from 529 savings plans in every state. Portfolios are selected based on their mix of stocks, bonds, and money-market funds, aiming for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven different asset-allocation categories.
“Now that two investment changes are allowed each year in a 529 account, some participants are following their investment performance more closely,” remarked Joe Hurley, founder of Savingforcollege.com. “Our rankings are designed to help participants assess their results.”
Prior to 2015, an investment change could be made in a 529 account only once during any calendar year, unless the beneficiary was switched.
Hurley cautions, however, that past performance does not guarantee future returns, and that a plan currently ranking high will not necessarily outperform its peers in the future. "We see some movement in the rankings every quarter, most particularly in one-year performance," he said.
The full reports showing rankings for all direct-sold 529 plans can be viewed at http://www.savingforcollege.com/articles/2015-plan-performance-rankings-q1-330. Savingforcollege.com also produces, for its premium subscribers, separate rankings for advisor-sold 529 plans and for RIA-channel 529 plans, along with the investment data and scoring used in all ranking reports. Rankings are updated each quarter.
One-year Composite Performance Rankings (54 plans ranked)
1. District of Columbia: DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) (Calvert funds)
2. Tennessee: TNStars College Savings 529 Program (multiple fund families)
3. Michigan: Michigan Education Savings Program (TIAA-CREF funds)
4. New York: New York’s 529 College Savings Program – Direct Plan (Vanguard funds)
5. California: The ScholarShare College Savings Plan (multiple fund families)
6. Louisiana: START Saving Program (mostly Vanguard funds)
7. Vermont: Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan (TIAA-CREF funds)
8. Colorado: Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan (Vanguard funds)
9. Mississippi: Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program (TIAA-CREF funds)
10. Maine: NextGen College Investing Plan - Client Direct Series (multiple fund families)
Three-year Composite Performance Rankings (49 plans ranked)
1. District of Columbia: DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) (Calvert funds)
2. California: The ScholarShare College Savings Plan (multiple fund families)
3. New York: New York’s 529 College Savings Program – Direct Plan (Vanguard funds)
4. Maine: NextGen College Investing Plan - Client Direct Series (multiple fund families)
5. Florida: Florida 529 Savings Plan (multiple money managers)
6. Michigan: Michigan Education Savings Program (TIAA-CREF funds)
7. Ohio: Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan (mostly Vanguard funds)
8. Alaska: University of Alaska College Savings Plan (T. Rowe Price funds)
9. Louisiana: START Saving Program (mostly Vanguard funds)
10. South Carolina: Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) (multiple fund families)
Five-year Composite Performance Rankings (43 plans ranked)
1. District of Columbia: DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) (Calvert funds)
2. New York: New York’s 529 College Savings Program – Direct Plan (Vanguard funds)
3. Alaska: University of Alaska College Savings Plan (T. Rowe Price funds)
4. Louisiana: START Saving Program (mostly Vanguard funds)
5. Michigan: Michigan Education Savings Program (TIAA-CREF funds)
6. Maine: NextGen College Investing Plan - Client Direct Series (multiple fund families)
7. Utah: Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust (mostly Vanguard funds)
8. Alaska: T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan (T. Rowe Price funds)
9. Florida: Florida 529 Savings Plan (multiple money managers)
10. Oklahoma: Oklahoma College Savings Plan (TIAA-CREF funds)
Ten-year Composite Performance Rankings (29 plans ranked)
1. Louisiana: START Saving Program (mostly Vanguard funds)
2. Utah: Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust (mostly Vanguard funds)
3. New York: New York’s 529 College Savings Program – Direct Plan (Vanguard funds)
4. Alaska: University of Alaska College Savings Plan (T. Rowe Price funds)
5. Virginia: Virginia529 inVEST (multiple fund families)
6. Nevada: USAA 529 College Savings Plan (USAA funds)
7. Alaska: T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan (T. Rowe Price funds)
8. Florida: Florida 529 Savings Plan (multiple money managers)
9. Ohio: Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan (mostly Vanguard funds)
10. District of Columbia: DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) (Calvert funds)
Marie Osypian, Saving For College LLC, http://www.savingforcollege.com, +1 (585) 286-5426 Ext: 114, [email protected]
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