BMO Investments Inc. Monday introduced BMO Target Education Portfolios, a series of managed investment solutions specifically designed for education savings and Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs).

The five new portfolios have investing time horizons ranging from Income (for people who are close to or already drawing down their savings) to dates from 2020 to 2035. They are managed based on the child’s year of birth and expected date to attend post-secondary education.

Each portfolio — consisting of mutual funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) — gradually shifts its asset mix from an emphasis on equities to an emphasis on fixed income as it approaches its target end date, thereby preserving capital for when it is needed.

According to a study by BMO Global Asset Management, 86 per cent of parents in Canada want easy-to-understand investments that align with the date that their child plans to start post-secondary education.

“With these new solutions, we’re taking some of the guesswork out of investing so that Canadian parents can rest assured that the investments they’re earmarking for their child’s post-secondary education are on the right track,” said Robert Armstrong, vice president and head of managed solutions, BMO Global Asset Management. “These new portfolios are low in cost and combine our market-leading mutual funds and ETFs, making them an ideal addition to an RESP.”

The study also found that more than three quarters (79 per cent) of Canadian parents wish there was more information or education about the benefits of RESPs and saving for post-secondary education.

To help address this, Employment and Social Development Canada has introduced Education Savings Week (Nov. 16-22), which aims to increase awareness around the importance of education savings, the benefits of RESPs and the availability of government incentives.

Survey results cited in this report are from a Pollara survey commissioned by BMO Global Asset Management using interviews with an online sample of 1,000 Canadian parents with children under the age of 18, conducted between Aug. 5-8. The margin of error for a probability sample of 1,000 plus or minus 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.