The partnership replaces traditional management with a strategy focused on enrollment-year portfolios that adjust automatically as students approach college age. For investors preferring more control, the plan now offers simplified risk-based portfolios alongside a new digital planning tool. Beyond investment shifts, the platform integration introduces modern payment features, including digital wallet gifting via PayPal and Venmo—which includes cryptocurrency options—and prepaid Visa and Mastercard cards for qualified education expenses.

Creative Planning President and CEO Peter Mallouk noted that the collaboration aims to strip away the complexity often associated with public savings programs. Catalis CEO Scott Roza emphasized that the move toward an open-architecture model allows Mississippi families access to a broader range of national investment firms than previously available. With roughly $750 billion in assets under management or advisement, Creative Planning brings four decades of institutional experience to the state-sponsored program, which serves as one of fourteen such initiatives managed by Catalis nationwide.