The Performance of Direct-Sold 529 Plans (ZT)

2014 five-year top performing direct plans Q1

Posted: 2014-05-16

Savingforcollege.com ranks the performance of direct-sold 529 plans. Direct-sold plans are those that consumers can enroll in without using a broker. We have prepared both one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performance tables.

To prepare this ranking, we compared a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. We selected portfolios based on their mix of stocks, bonds and money market funds, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven asset-allocation categories. The lower the "percentile," the better the ranking.

This ranking could be a useful tool for you when selecting which direct 529 plan might be right for you.

Here are our 529 performance rankings as of March 31, 2014 for Direct-sold 529 plans.

Five-year performance ranking (click here for one-year performance table and three-year performance table, and ten-year performance table):

Rank	State	Plan	Percentile
1	Nevada	USAA 529 College Savings Plan	22.26
2	Alaska	T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan	22.57
3	Alaska	University of Alaska College Savings Plan	22.80
4	Maine	NextGen College Investing Plan -- Client Direct Series	24.79
5	Maryland	College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan	29.70
6	New York	New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan	37.10
7	District of Columbia	DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold)	38.12
8	South Carolina	Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)	39.02
9	Utah	Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust	40.99
10	Virginia	Virginia529 inVEST	41.41
11	Michigan	Michigan Education Savings Program	42.85
12	South Dakota	CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold)	44.98
13	Louisiana	START Saving Program	46.02
14	West Virginia	SMART529 WV Direct	46.50
15	Oklahoma	Oklahoma College Savings Plan	47.75
16	West Virginia	SMART529 Select	50.36
17	Nevada	The Vanguard 529 Savings Plan	50.44
18	Florida	Florida 529 Savings Plan	50.95
19	Colorado	Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan	51.05
20	Illinois	Bright Start College Savings Program -- Direct-sold Plan	51.65
21	Ohio	Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan	52.20
22	New Mexico	The Education Plan's College Savings Program (Direct-sold)	52.62
23	Kansas	Schwab 529 College Savings Plan	53.20
24	Rhode Island	CollegeBoundfund (Direct-sold, Alternative RI)	53.32
25	Indiana	CollegeChoice 529 Investment Plan (Direct-sold)	53.41
26	Hawaii	Hawaii's College Savings Program	53.46
27	New Jersey	NJBEST 529 College Savings Plan	54.16
28	Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan	54.85
29	Iowa	College Savings Iowa	56.53
30	Minnesota	Minnesota College Savings Plan	56.74
31	Arizona	Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan	60.03
32	New Hampshire	UNIQUE College Investing Plan	60.08
33	Delaware	Delaware College Investment Plan	60.33
34	Massachusetts	U.Fund College Investing Plan	60.43
35	Kansas	Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)	60.53
36	Kentucky	Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust	60.77
37	Missouri	MOST - Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)	61.25
38	Vermont	Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan	61.86
39	North Dakota	College SAVE	65.14
40	Arkansas	GIFT College Investing Plan	65.57
41	Idaho	Idaho College Savings Program (IDeal)	66.03
42	Connecticut	Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)	69.27
43	Texas	Texas College Savings Plan	69.95
-	Alabama	College Counts 529 Fund (Direct-sold)	NA
-	California	The ScholarShare College Savings Plan	NA
-	Georgia	Path2College 529 Plan	NA
-	Nevada	SSgA Upromise College Fund	NA
-	Mississippi	Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program	NA
-	Montana	Montana Family Education Savings Program Investment Plan	NA
-	Nebraska	Nebraska Education Savings Trust - Direct College Savings Plan	NA
-	Nebraska	TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan	NA
-	North Carolina	National College Savings Program	NA
-	Oregon	Oregon College Savings Plan	NA
-	Tennessee	TNStars College Savings 529 Program	NA
-	Wisconsin	Edvest College Savings Plan	NA

NA = Not Applicable = Program does not have at least one portfolio with sufficiently-long performance in a minimum of four asset allocation categories under our ranking model.

The Savingforcollege.com plan composite rankings are derived using the plans' relevant portfolio performance in seven unique asset allocation categories. The asset-allocation categories used are: 100 percent equity, 80 percent equity, 60 percent equity, 40 percent equity, 20 percent equity, 100 percent fixed and 100 percent short term. The plan composite ranking is determined by the average of its percentile ranking in the seven categories.

The performance data underlying these rankings represent past performance and are not a guarantee of future performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data used. A plan portfolio's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares or units when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. Investors should carefully consider plan investment goals, risks, charges and expenses by obtaining and reading the plan's official program description before investing. Investors should also consider whether their beneficiary's home state offers any tax or other benefits that are available for investments only in such state's 529 plan.

Brokers, please note: For internal use only and not for use with or to be shown to the investing public.

Disclaimer: Saving For College, LLC shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in this report. Users should rely on official program disclosures.

www.savingforcollege.com/articles/2014-5-year-top-performing-direct-plans-q1