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Columbia Threadneedle Investments Extends Contract as Manager for South Carolina's Future Scholar 529 Plan
[July 17, 2019]

Columbia Threadneedle Investments Extends Contract as Manager for South Carolina's Future Scholar 529 Plan


Columbia Threadneedle Investments today announced that it has reached an agreement with the South Carolina Office of the State Treasurer to extend its current contract to provide program administration, investment management and distribution services for the state's Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan. The new contract, which may extend for up to 10 years, takes effect on October 1, 2019.

For the past 18 years, Columbia Threadneedle and its legacy firms have served as program manager for the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan, which now serves more than 170,000 investors and their beneficiaries nationwide, including accounts in every U.S. state.

The direct-sold plan has a top rating of five caps (out of five) from savingforcollege.com1 and the advisor-sold plan is ranked in the top 10 for 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year performance2. The advisor-sold plan offers a multi-managed investment line-up from over 10 leading asset managers, joint ownership, rollovers from other 529 plans at net asset value, and flexible and low-cost share classes.

"We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with South Carolina's Office of the State Treasurer in offering investors and savers a leading 529 plan," said Ted Truscott, CEO of Columbia Threadneedle Investments. "This contract extension underscores our ongoing commitment to providing a comprehensive solution that will help investors in South Carolina and across the nation efficiently save for future educational expenses."

"The Future Scholar 529 Plan continues to be recognized as one of the top education savings programs in the country, with consistent performance, low fees and investor-friendly attributes," said Curtis Loftis, State Treasurer of South Carolina. "We're proud that more families, both in South Carolina and nationwide, are relying on Future Scholar to reach their financial goals and are pleased to extend our relationship with Columbia Threadneedle Investments."

The Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan has $4 billion in assets and 173,000 accounts as of as of June 30, 2019. For more information, please visit futurescholar.com or columbiathreadneedleus.com/investment-products/529-plans/.



About Columbia Threadneedle Investments:
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset manager that provides a broad range of investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2,000 people, including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage $459 billion3 of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global asset management group of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP). For more information, please visit columbiathreadneedle.com/us. Follow us on Twitter.


1 Savingforcollege.com 5-Cap Ratings; based on data as of December 31, 2018. The ratings represent the opinion of savingforcollege.com of the overall usefulness of a state's 529 plan based on many considerations.
2 Savingforcollege.com; based on data as of March 31, 2019. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
3 As of March 31, 2019. Includes all assets managed by entities in the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.

Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact your financial advisor or visit columbiathreadneedle.com/us for an Advisor Plan program description or visit futurescholar.com for a Direct Plan program description, which contains this and other important information about the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan. 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 state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in such state's qualified tuition program.

Investment products are not federally or FDIC-insured, are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by, any financial institution and involve investment risks, including possible loss of principal and fluctuation in value.

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. Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA, is the distributor and underwriter for the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan Financial Advisor Program. 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.

Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.
225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110-2804

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