TIAA-CREF
Encyclopedia
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA–CREF) is a Fortune 100 financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...

 organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. TIAA–CREF serves 3.7 million active and retired employees participating at more than 15,000 institutions and has $453 billion in combined assets under management
Assets under management
Assets under management is a financial term used denote the market value of funds being managed by a financial instutition on behalf of its clients, investors, depositors, etc. This metric is a sign of size and success against competition...

 (as of 12/31/10).

Much of TIAA–CREF operates on a nonprofit basis, with surplus returned to participants. TIAA–CREF is headquartered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and has major offices in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

; Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

; and Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

; as well as seventy local offices throughout the United States. In 2011 TIAA–CREF ranks 87th on Fortune's list of the 500 largest corporations in America.

Profile

TIAA–CREF was created to replace the system of free pensions provided by Carnegie Corporation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...

 for professors. When the original fund proved inadequate, TIAA was created in an Act of the New York State Legislature in 1918 as a stock life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...

 company for the purpose of providing retirement income for professors through fixed premium guaranteed deferred annuity contracts. Later in 1952, CREF was created to allow professors to invest in the stock market through the nation's first variable annuity. Its core business continues to be retirement plan administration and annuity products. It is by far the largest manager of so-called employer-sponsored 403(b)
403(b)
A 403 plan, also known as a tax-sheltered annuity, is a tax-advantaged retirement savings plan available for public education organizations, some non-profit employers , cooperative hospital service organizations, and self-employed ministers in the United States...

 tax-sheltered annuity plans, a defined contribution retirement plan for employees of 501(c)(3) educational, religious, and charitable organizations. The company also offers 401(k)
401(k)
A 401 is a type of retirement savings account in the United States, which takes its name from subsection of the Internal Revenue Code . A contributor can begin to withdraw funds after reaching the age of 59 1/2 years...

 and 457 plan
457 plan
The 457 plan is a type of non-qualified tax advantaged deferred-compensation retirement plan that is available for governmental and certain non-governmental employers in the United States. The employer provides the plan and the employee defers compensation into it on a pre-tax basis...

s, Keogh plans, and Supplemental Retirement Plans. Contributions from these plans are typically invested in the company's traditional or variable annuities or its line of mutual fund
Mutual fund
A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors to buy stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.- Overview :...

s.

In recent years the company has greatly expanded its capabilities and advisory services and broadened clients' investment choices. Internally it has focused on developing customer support IT infrastructure and leadership development.

At the retail level, TIAA–CREF offers Traditional and Rollover Individual Retirement Account
Individual Retirement Account
An individual retirement arrangement is the blanket term for a form of retirement plan that provides tax advantages for retirement savings in the United States...

s, Roth IRA
Roth IRA
A Roth IRA is a special type of retirement plan under US law that is generally not taxed, provided certain conditions are met. The tax law of the United States allows a tax reduction on a limited amount of saving for retirement. The Roth IRA is named for its chief legislative sponsor, Senator...

s, mutual funds, after-tax annuities and life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...

 (through TIAA–CREF Life), 529 college savings plans
529 plan
A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged investment vehicle in the United States designed to encourage saving for the future higher education expenses of a designated beneficiary.- Overview :529 plans are named after section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code...

, Coverdell Education Savings Account
Coverdell Education Savings Account
A Coverdell Education Savings Account , is a tax-advantaged investment account in the United States designed to encourage savings to cover future education expenses A Coverdell Education Savings Account (also known as an Education Savings Account, a Coverdell ESA, a Coverdell Account, or just an...

s, financial planning, and trust and investment management (through TIAA–CREF Trust Company, FSB). These investments are offered to the general public, and TIAA–CREF is no longer limited to the academic community.

On the institutional side, TIAA–CREF Asset Management serves institutional investors and intermediaries, including registered investment advisors, investment-only defined contribution platforms and broker/dealers.

History

In 1918, Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

 and his Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, under the leadership of Henry S. Pritchett
Henry Smith Pritchett
Henry Smith Pritchett was an American astronomer and educator.-Biography:Pritchett was born on April 16, 1857 in Fayette, Missouri, and attended Pritchett College in Glasgow, Missouri, receiving an A.B. in 1875. He then took instruction from Asaph Hall for two years at the US Naval Observatory...

, created the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), a fully funded system of pensions for professors. Funding was provided by a combination of grants from the foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York, as well as ongoing contributions from participating institutions and individuals.

In 1921, the policyholders voted to nominate Professor Samuel M. Lindsay of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 to represent them on the TIAA board of trustees. Policyholder representation on the TIAA board was consistent with the Carnegie Foundation desire that educators assume a role in running the organization.

Conservative investing allowed TIAA to survive the 1929 stock market crash
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

 and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

.

In 1933, Albert Einstein became a participant, a fact that TIAA-CREF later used in a notable 2001 advertising campaign.

After World War II, in reaction to rising inflation and lengthening life expectancies, and a dramatic expansion of the education sector with the G.I. Bill, TIAA recognized the need for its participants to invest in equities in order to diversify their retirement funds. In 1952, TIAA created the College Retirement Equities Fund ("CREF"), a variable annuity, for that purpose.

On June 15, 2007, TIAA became one of the first U.S. companies to voluntarily adopt, and the first to implement, a policyholder advisory vote on executive compensation policy.

On June 28, 2007, the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) announced its selection of TIAA–CREF as the sole investment provider for its supplemental retirement savings programs. CalSTRS is the second-largest public pension plan and the largest teachers' retirement fund in the United States.

On August 12, 2008, TIAA–CREF announced the opening of a new office in London. The office will be staffed by local investment professionals who will extend TIAA–CREF Global Real Estate's activities in the United Kingdom and Europe.

On September 7, 2008, Herb Allison, the former chairman and CEO of TIAA–CREF, was tapped to lead beleaguered home mortgage backer Fannie Mae, as part of a government bailout
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of , commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis...

 engineered by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
Henry Paulson
Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...

.

On November 16, 2009, TIAA–CREF signed an agreement with a third-party to sublet the 17th, 18th, and 27th floors of the New York headquarters building at 730 Third Avenue to a third-party company that offers NY conference space and services.

External links

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