• April 21, 2016
• Lincoln, NE

Nebraska Educational Savings Trust is excited to announce investment changes to the NEST Direct College Savings Plan, the NEST Advisor College Savings Plan, and the TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan, effective April 29, 2016.

The investment changes are intended to build on the strong lineup of investment options that already exist in the Plans. Changes include lowering costs, adjusting allocations to underlying investments in the Age-Based and Static Investment Options, and changing underlying investments.

“As NEST Savings Plans continue to grow, we are looking to make these plans as efficient and cost-effective as possible,” said Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg. “Not only do these changes involve lowered fees, but the replaced underlying investments and fine-tuned allocations could yield even better performance than our investors currently enjoy.”

“We understand that our customers want to save as much as possible to fund their higher education goals,” said Deborah Goodkin, Managing Director, Savings Plans, First National Bank of Omaha. “These improvements reflect our focus on continuously improving NEST and reinforce the service we already provide to our investors nationwide.”

Highlights of the changes for each plan are the following:

LOWERED FEES

• Direct College Savings Plan: The total estimated annual asset-based fees will change. A total of 15 out of 20 (75 percent) of the Age-Based Portfolios and one Static Option will decrease between one and four basis points.
• NEST Advisor College Savings Plan: The total estimated annual asset-based fees will change. A total of 17 out of 20 (85 percent) in each of the Class A and Class C Age-Based Portfolios and two in each of the Class A and Class C Static Options will decrease in price between one and six basis points.
• TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan: The total estimated annual asset-based fees will change. A total of 17 out of 20 (85 percent) of the Age-Based Portfolios and one Static Option will decrease between one and five basis points.

REPLACED UNDERLYING INVESTMENTS

1. Replaced SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF with DFA World ex-US Government Fixed Income adding a new fund manager to the NEST lineup while reducing volatility. (All three Plans)
2. Substituted Goldman Sachs Prime Obligations Money Market Fund with the Goldman Sachs Financial Square℠ Government Money Market Fund due to upcoming money market reform changes. (All three Plans)
3. Replaced Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities with Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Index to reduce interest rate sensitivity. (Direct Plan and TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan)
4. Replaced Dreyfus Bond Market Index Basic with iShares Core US Aggregate ETF to increase performance and reduce cost. (Advisor Plan Only)
5. Replaced American Century Inflation-Adjusted Bond with vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected ETF to reduce interest rate sensitivity. (Advisor Plan Only)

ADDED ONE INDIVIDUAL INVESTMENT OPTION

The American Funds The Income Fund of America® (AMEFX) has been added as an Individual Investment Option to the Advisor Plan to offer a fund that focuses on income generation from both stocks and bonds.

FINE TUNED ALLOCATIONS TO UNDERLYING INVESTMENTS IN AGE-BASED AND STATIC OPTIONS

The following changes will affect the three Plans:

• Changed allocations to gradually get more conservative among the Aggressive, Growth, Index and Conservative Options.
• Adjusted real estate allocations from a fixed 5 percent allocation to a more consistent and appropriate percentage of equity allocation.
• Adjusted fixed income allocations to ensure consistency across investment options and Age-Based portfolios while reducing the steep range in the change in duration between Age-Based portfolios.
• Reduced allocations to the TIPS fund in portfolios that were more conservative and, therefore, more at risk to inflation.
• Reduced allocations to the money market fund and increased allocations to the FDIC-Insured Bank Savings Option in the Direct and Advisor Plans to improve performance and to receive a higher yield.

NEST 529 is consistently recognized by national experts, including a 5 Caps rating (highest rating) from Savingforcollege.com for the NEST Direct and NEST Advisor Plans. In addition, the NEST Direct Plan is ranked one of the nation’s top ten performing 529 college savings plans for last year in a recently released nationwide analysis by SavingforCollege.com.

For more information about NEST, visit NEST529.com and treasurer.nebraska.gov.