Top Best Performing College Plans From Savingforcollege.com

According to a new study released by Savingforcollege.com, the Florida College Investment Plan finished first among all direct-sold 529 savings plans in one-year and three-year investment performance for the period ending December 31, 2008. The full 529 Plan Performance Rankings showing one-year, three-year, and five-year rankings for all direct-sold 529 plans can be viewed at www.savingforcollege.com.

Florida's 529 plan is administered by the Florida Prepaid College Board and utilizes the services of six different outside money managers to invest monies in the plan's five investment options. It is one of the smaller 529 savings programs with less than $150 million in assets compared to over $6 billion in the direct-sold New York 529 savings program managed by Upromise Investments and Vanguard.

Other top five finishers for three-year performance included 529 plans from Iowa and Nebraska, and for one-year performance included plans from Utah, Missouri, and Georgia. Louisiana and South Carolina also placed among the top five, but enrollment in their plans is restricted to state residents.

For the first time, the number of 529 plans with five-year track records was sufficient to produce five-year performance rankings. The top five performers were Louisiana's START Saving Program, the College Savings Plan of Nebraska, Nevada's Vanguard 529 Savings Plan, Iowa College Savings, and the Utah Educational Savings Plan.

"The year 2008 was very difficult for 529 savings plans," commented Savingforcollege.com founder Joseph Hurley. "Most could not escape the turmoil in the stock and bond markets, although many conservative options managed to achieve positive returns."

In producing its rankings, Savingforcollege.com compared the reported investment performance of a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. Portfolios were selected based on their mix of stocks, bonds, and money-market funds, allowing for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven different asset-allocation categories.

Savingforcollege.com also produces rankings for advisor-sold 529 plans, available through a subscription. Rankings are updated each quarter.

One-year 529 Composite Performance Rankings (53 plans ranked). It includes the ranking, the name of the college saving plan and the underlying investments.

1 Florida: College Investment Plan Multiple money managers

2 South Carolina: Future Scholar* Columbia mutual funds

3 Utah: UESP Treasurer's fund and Vanguard funds

4 Missouri: MOST American Century and Vanguard funds

5 Georgia: Path2College TIAA-CREF funds

6 Kansas: Schwab 529** Multiple fund families

7 New York: 529 Direct Plan Vanguard funds

8 Iowa: College Savings Vanguard funds

9 Pennsylvania: 529 Investment Plan Vanguard funds

10 Connecticut: CHET TIAA-CREF funds

Provided by The Bankrate (NasdaqGS: RATE)