Future Scholar Accolades

Five Cap Rating

Savingforcollege.com has awarded Future Scholar a 5 cap rating for our Direct and Advisor programs for state residents.²

Morningstar® Bronze Award

Morningstar® has awarded Future Scholar a Bronze rating for our Direct and Advisor programs.³

Please remember there’s always the potential of losing money when investing in securities.

Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing in the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan. Contact your financial advisor or Future Scholar for a Program Description , which contains this and other important information. Read it carefully before investing. You should also consider, before investing, whether the investor’s or 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.

¹ Tax treatment varies by state. The tax information set forth on this website is general in nature and does not constitute tax advice on the part of Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., its affiliates or the South Carolina Office of State Treasurer. Please contact your tax advisor before making any tax related decisions.

² Savingforcollege.com assigns a rating to each state sponsored 529 college savings program ranging from 1-Cap, for least attractive plans, to 5-Caps for most attractive. Separate ratings are assigned for residents and nonresidents. The rating is based on the comparison of four categories: performance, costs, features and reliability as of April 1, 2016. Ratings do not consider any individual’s personal financial situation. Ratings are subjective and are not based on a fixed formula. Ratings are not indicative of future results.

³ In October of each calendar year, Morningstar® issues qualitative, forward-looking ratings to 529 college-savings plans known as the Morningstar® Analyst Ratings for 529 College-Savings Plans. The Bronze rating shown is as of October 2015. Analyst Ratings are assigned on a five-tier scale running from Gold to Negative. The top three ratings, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, all indicate that the analysts think highly of a 529 plan; the difference corresponds to the level of analyst conviction in a plan’s investment options’ ability to collectively outperform their respective benchmarks and peers over time, within the context of the level of risk taken and local tax benefits.

Morningstar® analysts consider five factors in determining their final ratings: 1) People – are the managers and researchers directing the plan’s investments skilled and well supported? 2) Process – are the strategies sensible and are past successes likely to be repeated? Are the asset-allocation and fund selection for the age-based options based on solid research and implemented well? 3) Parent – is the program manager a good caretaker of college savers’ capital? Is the state managing the plan professionally? 4) Performance – has the plan delivered strong risk-adjusted performance, and is it likely to continue? And 5) Price – are the investment options a good value? Do state tax benefits defray costs?

The Direct Plan is sold directly by the Program and is limited to a specific group of investors, as described in the Program Description . You may also participate in the Advisor Plan, which is sold exclusively through financial advisors. The Advisor Plan offers additional investment choices, but the fees and expenses are higher. Please contact your financial advisor for additional information on the Advisor Plan.

The Office of State Treasurer of South Carolina (the State Treasurer) administers the Program and has selected Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (Columbia Management) as Program Manager. Columbia Management and its affiliates are responsible for providing certain administrative, recordkeeping and investment services, and for the marketing of the Program. Columbia Management is not affiliated with the State Treasurer.