Two new firms will be taking over the management of the state’s $7 billion CollegeBound fund. The fund was created in 1998 to help Rhode Islanders save money for college.

State Treasurer Seth Magaziner led the move to change management of the CollegeBound fund. He saidparticipants will benefit from the hiring of the highly rated investment company Invesco and Ascensus, the nation’s biggest administrator of so-called 529 college savings programs.

“Fees charged to Rhode Islanders will be the lowest in the country for direct 529 plans and the fees for the advisor-sold network will be lower nationally will be lower than they are now,” said Magaziner

“So I think that we’ll perform better, we’ll have lower fees and I think we’ll have a stronger national sales network.”  

As part of the change, Ascensus says it plans to open a Rhode Island office with 35 employees by next June.

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