Assets in 529 plans hit record, then shrink

Morningstar says college savings accounts went from $328 billion in assets in December to $293 billion in March

Assets in 529 plan accounts reached an all-time high of $328 billion in December before shrinking to $293 billion as of March as a result of the market downturn during the first quarter, according to research from Morningstar Inc.

Assets in the college savings accounts totaled nearly $286 billion at the end of 2018.

Plans sold directly to college savers continued to gain market share, Morningstar said, growing at more than double the rate of plans sold exclusively through financial advisers over the past three years.

Fees fell again in 2019, with the average direct-sold age-based portfolio’s expense ratio declining to 0.35% in 2019 from 0.39% in 2018, and the expense ratio of the average adviser-sold age-based portfolio down 0.04 percentage points to 0.89% as of March 2020.

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