Strong, Fidelity, Salomon Lead Top 529 Web Sites

April 02, 2003, 1:00 a.m. EST 1 Min Read

Strong Capital was the first-place winner in Pyxis Consultings 2003 529 Web Site Survey for its Web sites for Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin. Pyxis expanded its ranking criteria this year to identify sites that help companies reduce costs, increase contribution dollars and help investors develop realistic savings goals.

Strong tallied a 4.11 rating, out of a possible overall 5.0, garnering perfect scores in six of the nine categories. Tied for second, both with a 4.0 rating, were Fidelity for its sites in Delaware, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and Salomon Smith Barney, for its sites in Colorado,and Illinois.

Rounding out the top 10 were The Hartford, TIAA-CREF, Vanguard, Union Bank & Trust, T. Rowe Price, American Century and College Savings Bank.

This years list considered only the sites that support online enrollment, including some type of "digital signature." Previously, the rankings were based on education, needs illustration, data capture, enhanced help and e-signature, but this year Pyxis "took a more focused look at the customer-centric functionality that these sites use to increase their plan assets," said Christopher Willis, Pyxis director of marketing.

The rankings were derived from the evaluation of a number of criteria, including interactive tools, data validation, navigation and identity validation. Other things taken into consideration were the ease of enrollment, the availability of answers to participant questions and data continuity.