The Baltimore investment firm managing a tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan backed by Maryland's government will lower its management fee with the two-year extension of its contract.
State officials said Thursday they had approved a final, two-year extension of Baltimore-based money manager T. Rowe Price's contract to manage the Maryland College Investment Plan fund and were satisfied with its performance. The contract will expire in July 2017.
As part of the agreement, T. Rowe agreed to drop its fee for managing all but one of its 14 portfolios from 0.2 percent to 0.13 percent per year, starting in January. Its fee for the Global Equity Market Index Portfolio will drop from 0.20 percent to 0.11 percent per year.
The College Investment Plan was launched in 2001 and currently has more than $3.8 billion in assets from more than 97,000 account holders, according to state officials. The state also offers the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, another plan which allows families to lock in tuition payments at today's prices. Investments made in the plans can be used at any college in the country.
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