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What Is a 529 Plan?

Investment Options

Why CollegeAccess 529?

The CollegeAccess 529 Plan website provides investors and financial professionals with a better way to obtain information surrounding 529 Plans and the benefits they provide. The CollegeAccess 529 Plan offers access to several of the country’s largest and most respected investment management firms featuring a robust menu of investment portfolios. We hope that you find the information provided on this site informative so you can put the best to work for a child’s future.

If you have any questions about the CollegeAccess 529 Plan, please contact us at 1-866-529-7462, Monday through Thursday, 8:30am – 6:00pm and until 5:00pm on Friday, Eastern Time.

IMPORTANT RISK DISCLOSURES

Equity Securities: The market price of equity securities may be adversely affected by financial market, industry, or issuer-specific events. Focus on a particular style or on small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk.

Foreign & Emerging Markets: Investing in foreign securities, especially in emerging markets, subjects the portfolio to additional risks such as increased volatility, currency fluctuations, less liquidity, and political, regulatory, economic, and market risk.

Credit & Interest: Debt instruments are subject to various risks, including credit and interest rate risk. The issuer of a debt security may fail to make interest and/or principal payments. Values of debt instruments may rise or fall in response to changes in interest rates, and this risk may be enhanced with longer-term maturities.

Income: Income received from the portfolio may vary widely over the short- and long-term and/or be less than anticipated if the proceeds from maturing securities in the portfolio are reinvested in lower-yielding securities.

Market Volatility: The value of the securities in the portfolio may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies and/or general economic conditions. Price changes may be short- or long-term. Local, regional, or global events such as war or military conflict (e.g., Russia's invasion of Ukraine), acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic) or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the portfolio and its investments, including hampering the ability of the portfolio's manager(s) to invest the portfolio's assets as intended.

NOTICE: CollegeAccess 529 Plan accounts are not insured by any state, and neither the principal deposited nor any investment return is guaranteed by any state. Furthermore, the accounts are not insured, nor the principal or any investment return guaranteed, by the federal government or any federal agency.

Before investing, an individual should consider whether their state of residency — or their intended designated beneficiary's state of residency — offers any benefit, such as state tax deduction, financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors or any other benefits that are only available for investments in that state's 529 savings program.

An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the CollegeAccess 529 Plan before investing. This and other important information is in the Plan Disclosure Statement (SD Investors Version ), which should be read carefully before investing, and which is available on this website.

The Program Manager and Underwriter for the CollegeAccess 529 Plan is VP Distributors LLC, One Financial Plaza, Hartford, CT 06103,
1-800-243-4361. The Plan is issued by the South Dakota Higher Education Savings Trust. Certain of the investment management firms that manage underlying mutual Funds in the Program, including Virtus Investment Advisers, Inc. (VIA), are affiliated with the Program Manager, VP Distributors, LLC.  Virtus Fund Advisers, LLC is an affiliate of VIA and the Program Manager.

Withdrawals from a 529 Plan for qualified expenses are free from federal income tax. Qualified expenses include tuition and fees, room and board, books and other supplies.

State taxes may apply for residents of states other than South Dakota. Speak to your tax or financial advisor.

Non-qualified withdrawals are subject to federal income tax and a 10% penalty tax on earnings, with some exceptions, and may also be subject to state tax.

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