OFI Private Investments Expands Choices for College Savings Plans

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- OFI Private Investments, a subsidiary of OppenheimerFunds, announced that it has added several investment choices for college savers in its New Mexico advisor-sold and direct-sold 529 plans. The firm, which has $9 billion of college-savings assets under management/advisement, recently concluded its 10-year contract with New Mexico and was re-hired by the New Mexico Education Trust Board for another, initial five-year term.

"Our goal is to help more families save for college by ensuring the New Mexico plans offer an investment option for everyone, no matter their risk tolerance," said Steve Dombrower, director of College Savings Plans at OFI Private Investments. "We are privileged to continue our longstanding partnership with New Mexico, whose college-savings plans have gained popularity across the nation."

Both The Education Plan – which is sold directly to investors – and the advisor-sold Scholar's Edge plan have added a number of new choices:

• Both plans get two new Custom Choice portfolios: a Custom Choice 100-percent fixed income option as well as a 100-percent short-duration fixed income option for investors looking to preserve capital in a rising-interest-rate environment.
• Both plans get two additional age-based glide paths that are more conservative than the existing glide path (a glide path refers to an asset allocation that changes as the investor gets closer to a target date such as reaching college age), increasing the age-based options in each plan to three risk-based choices from one (Aggressive, Growth, Balanced.)

In addition, the Scholar's Edge plan is offering five new individual fund portfolios including a multi-asset fund, bringing to 28 the total number of individual fund choices available to help advisors offer clients a truly customized portfolio. The plan continues to offer the Portfolio Allocator option, which automatically re-balances the client's account quarterly without their having to use one of their two yearly investment changes.

OFI Private Investments has been managing or distributing 529 plans for 14 years as the savings plans have grown in popularity across the country. More than 90 percent of Scholar's Edge assets are held outside New Mexico. The firm also manages or distributes college-savings plans in Nebraska and Illinois in addition to the Private College 529 pre-paid tuition plan.

About OppenheimerFunds

OppenheimerFunds, a leader in global asset management, is dedicated to providing solutions for its partners and end investors. OppenheimerFunds, including its subsidiaries, manages $220 billion in assets for over 13 million shareholder accounts, including sub-accounts, as of Aug. 31, 2015.

Founded in 1959, OppenheimerFunds is a high conviction asset manager with a history of providing active, innovative investment strategies to its investors. The firm's 14 distinct, collaborative investment management teams specialize in equity, fixed income, alternative and multi-asset strategies. OppenheimerFunds and its subsidiaries offer a broad array of products and services to clients, who range from endowments and sovereigns to financial advisors serving individual investors. OppenheimerFunds provides advisory services to the Oppenheimer mutual funds, and OFI Global Asset Management offers solutions to institutions. For more information, visit oppenheimerfunds.com.

Scholar's Edge® and The Education Plan are operated as qualified tuition programs offered by The Education Trust Board of New Mexico and are available to all U.S. residents. OFI Private Investments Inc., a subsidiary of OppenheimerFunds, Inc., is the program manager for the plans and OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc. is the distributor of the plans. Some states offer favorable tax treatment to their residents only if they invest in the state's own plan. Investors should consider before investing whether their or their designated beneficiary's home state offers any state tax or other benefits that are only available for investments in such state's qualified tuition program and should consult their tax advisor. These securities are neither FDIC insured nor guaranteed and may lose value.

Before investing in the Plan, investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses associated with municipal fund securities. The Plan Description contains this and other information about the Plan. The Plan Description for ScholarsEdge may be obtained by asking your financial advisor, by visiting www.scholarsedge529.com or calling 1.866.529.SAVE (1.866.529.7283) or, for The Education Plan, visiting www.theeducationplan.com or calling 1.877.EdPlan8. Investors should read these documents carefully before investing.

Scholar's Edge® and The Education Plan are distributed by OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC
225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281-1008

SOURCE OppenheimerFunds