The Oregon College Savings Plan, the 529 plan that parents can invest in without a broker, received an independent website's top ranking last week, placing it among the top eight plans in the nation.
upped the plan's rating to 5 graduation caps for all investors, website founder Joseph Hurley confirmed Monday. Previously, the plan rated 4.5 caps for Oregon residents and 4 caps for nonresidents, Oregon State Treasury officials said.
The plan's ranking improved after the site retooled its rating system to consider and weight more factors, Hurley said.
"Based on our methodology and scoring, Oregon deserves its 5-Cap rating," Hurley said.
and its manager, TIAA-CREF, have reduced plan fees and improved investment offerings as its assets have grown -- improvements reflected in the new ratings, Hurley said.
But ratings had suffered somewhat because of its limited historical performance. TIAA-CREF took over the plan and introduced investment options in March 2010.
Morningstar, for instance, ranked the plan
in its annual ratings last year.
Aside from performance and fees, Hurley's site also considers plan features, such as online investment menus, and plan-manager reliability. Oregon's received
.
According to Hurley's site, the tax break offered Oregon residents improves the plan by about one-third of a cap. But the plan earned five caps for non-residents as well. Only seven other plans earned five-cap ratings for out-of-state investors. The site rates more than 100 plans overall.
The high rating means the plan "offers outstanding flexibility, attractive investments, and additional economic benefits (such as generous state tax incentives) that for some people, at least, will provide a substantial boost to their savings," the site states. "There are few, if any, weaknesses noted in the program."
Oregon's one-year performance
in the first quarter of 2012. The plan now has $752 million as of March 31, up from $657.8 million a year ago. It had nearly 63,900 accounts compared to 59,000 a year earlier. All but nearly 6,600 are Oregon residents. The average account is $11,775.
Oregon's adviser-sold
earned
. It has $773 million in assets, up from $698 million at year's end. More than half of the 64,000 accounts are from out of state.
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