Advisers key to 529 plan sales

Financial planners and advisers were identified as key to sales of 529 college savings plans this morning at the opening session of the annual College Savings Foundation conference in Miami Beach. Adviser sales were rated the most effective method of marketing 529 plans, according to a survey of CSF members unveiled at the conference. What’s more, 51% of CSF members said field sales’ level of commitment to 529 plans was increasing, compared to 47% last year and only 31% in 2006. The survey results demonstrate that 529 plans are “overwhelmingly a financial adviser sales distribution vehicle,” said Peter Mazareas, CSF vice chair and president and chief executive of Strategic Advancement Group, Inc. More troublingly for the 529 industry, nearly half of the surveyed CSF members identified lack of consumer awareness about the plans as the leading factor holding back growth, despite the fact that, according to Mr. Mazereas, the industry is already spending an estimated $110 million on marketing.