CollegeAdvantage, Ohio’s 529 plan, which currently offers 17 Putnam funds, will add 15 Vanguard funds to its lineup in May, 2004.

The Ohio Tuition Trust Authority hired Putnam to manage its 529 plan in 2000. While Ohio is now participating in a class action lawsuit against the firm, that is not the reason for moving to offer Vanguard funds, according to a report in the Akron Beacon Journal. "Our current thinking is to have two firms involved in an ongoing basis," Jackie Williams, executive director of the trust authority, told the paper.

Thirteen of the new Vanguard funds are index funds aimed at do-it-yourself investors.

"We weren't capturing a lot of people in the state who consider themselves do-it-yourself investors," Williams added.

Putnam’s offerings for the Ohio plan include age-based portfolios, objective based portfolios,11 options in different investment asset classes, fixed income and cash options.

The new Vanguard offerings include three age-based funds, 12 individual portfolio funds, a money market fund and an inflation-indexed bond fund. Nevada and Iowa also use Vanguard funds in their 529 plans.

Ohio is the only state Putnam provides 529 funds for. A company spokeswoman, referring to the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority, said, "We respect the decision to offer additional funds to their shareholders." She added that Putnam has $3 billion in assets under management in the 529 plan, and is pleased with its performance.

Judith K. Cunningham, public relations manager for the Ohio trust said that the addition of the Vanguard funds was not a preliminary to dropping the Putnam offerings. "We'll be keeping all 32 funds," she said. A Vanguard spokesperson was not available for comment. 

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