my529 earns top Morningstar honor for 14th year in a row
This fall, Morningstar’s annual review of 529 plans named my529 as one of five plans in 2024 to receive the Analyst Rating™ of Gold. my529 has now earned Morningstar’s top rating for 14 years in a row.
The award reinforces my529’s longstanding, well-regarded status within the 529 industry.
In their 2024 industry report, Morningstar evaluated 59 plans for their underlying investment quality and selection process, asset allocation methodology, investment team and oversight. For Gold-rated plans like my529, distinguishing factors included investment option design, effective governance and low costs.
Morningstar Research Services LLC, a leading provider of independent investment research, is a subsidiary of Morningstar Inc.
What makes Gold-rated plans like my529 stand out from their peers?
- Investment option design.
- Effective governance.
- Continuity with an experienced investment team.
- Asset allocation methodology.
- Underlying investment selection and monitoring process.
- Low costs.
Morningstar analysts praised the construction of my529’s investment offerings and the plan’s low-priced options, including the Customized Age-Based option, which gives account owners — and their advisors — the flexibility to tailor a portfolio in line with their individual goals, risk appetite and time horizon.
A state-specific breakdown also noted my529’s history of fee reductions — and that the plan’s low overall costs made it an attractive investment vehicle to investors across the country.
View the report, released October 29. Advisors with a Morningstar login can access the state analysis.
my529’s record of 14 top industry ratings is unmatched by any other 529 plan.
Here are some of my529’s key accomplishments over the same period:
- my529 is the third-largest direct-sold 529 plan by assets in the country, with more than 564,000 accounts and $25.76 billion in assets under management (AUM).
- Advisor-assisted accounts at my529 now number 60,430, with AUM for those accounts totaling more than $3.6 billion.
- More than 169,800 my529 beneficiaries have used their funds for qualified education expenses (including K-12 tuition) since 2011, totaling over $7.4 billion in withdrawals.
- In 2024, 45% of higher education and K-12 withdrawals were from earnings, totaling $485 million ($1.08 billion in total higher education and K-12 withdrawals).
- my529 continuously evaluates underlying fund offerings, introducing Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) funds to the lineup in 2013 and incorporating a proprietary PIMCO stable value product in 2018.
- As of November 30, 2024, assets for advisor-assisted accounts in Customized options invested in my529 single-fund portfolios with DFA underlying funds totaled $637 million. 78% of advisor-assisted accounts have some portion of their allocation invested in DFA funds.
- 5.4 % of my529’s total AUM is invested in the PIMCO Investment Income Fund. For advisor-assisted accounts, the percentage is 4.1% ($145.6 million).
Data provided as of November 30, 2024.
A Morningstar Analyst Rating™ for a 529 college savings plan is not a credit or risk rating.
Analyst ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst ratings are based on Morningstar analysts’ current expectations about future events and therefore involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar’s expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its analyst ratings to be guarantees.
Please visit Morningstar.com for more information about the analyst ratings, as well as other Morningstar ratings and fund rankings.
From the FAN — Winter 2025
