Direct-sold plans
From its first direct-sold plan in 2002 - the Upromise College Fund - Upromise Investments has become the leading administrator of direct-to-consumer 529 college savings plans in the United States. This experience has given us the knowledge of how to attract college savers. Our direct plans are designed to reach as many families as possible from all demographics, including middle- and lower-income, with:
- Low-cost options (a number of our plans require only $15 to begin through payroll deduction)
- Automatic Investment Plan (AIP) and Electronic Bank Transfers (EBT)
- Two enrollment options: online and by mail
- Online account management virtually 24/7
- Innovative ways to help families save even more: Ugift® - Give College Savings and Upromise®
Leading investment partners: The flexibility of our platform lets us join forces with a variety of leading investment managers. This allows us to offer a wide variety of investment options that seek to meet the different characteristics of college savers. These include one-step, age-based portfolios for account owners who want an automatically re-allocated plan that moves from aggressive to conservative as a child approaches college age; to individual portfolios from respected investment managers with a single asset class or style.
We feature a full-service marketing department with a range of capabilities from strategic research and analysis to creative and production services. The team's 529 specialists bring creative ideas and a fresh perspective to increasing plan awareness, growing assets, and broadening the pool of participants. These professionals treat each partner individually to develop a customized approach for each plan and conduct extensive analysis to determine which forms of marketing are most cost effective.