Managers cut fees to retain lucrative college plans

* TIAA-CREF wins renewals in 3 states YTD, picks up Oregon

* Fee concessions after 2008 market slide

* Home state advantage a factor?

By Ross Kerber

BOSTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Money management companies, anxious to hang on to lucrative contracts to manage college savings plans, are making concessions to keep the business from slipping away.

Seven of eight states that have signed contracts this year have chosen the firms that were already managing these plans -- in many instances, receiving sizable cuts in fees.

"There is a lot of money in these plans and companies don't want to lose them, so they're willing to be as aggressive as they need to be," said Andrea Feirstein, a New York consultant to state officials in the $100 billion industry.

In all more than $9 billion stayed in the same hands, in a year when expectations for turnover were high given recent market volatility and disappointing returns.

Education investment giant TIAA-CREF re-signed deals this year with Vermont, Minnesota and Kentucky. Fidelity Investments scored a renewal with its home state of Massachusetts and picked up Arizona. Upromise Investments, the college-savings unit of SLM Corp (SLM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said it recently renewed deals with Nevada and Colorado.