Columbia Management, the primary investment arm of Bank of America Corp., announced Thursday that it would expand investment offerings from its Columbia Funds and Nations Funds families to investors in its New York and South Carolina 529 college savings plans.
Entities of Boston-based Columbia Management manage New York's 529 college savings program, Advisor Plan, and the Future Scholar 529 college savings plan in South Carolina.
Certain Nations Marsico funds are now offered within allocated portfolios for the New York plan. Similarly, several Columbia Acorn funds are now available to investors in the South Carolina plan. The enhancements are the latest wave of product integration and alignment by Columbia Management after last year's Bank of America-FleetBoston Financial Corp. merger.
In recent weeks Columbia Management has announced a series of proposed fund mergers and liquidations, as well as a streamlining of its service provider platforms, in order to address product redundancies, achieve efficiencies of scale, and more clearly differentiate the menu of choices offered to investors.
