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TIAA

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For other uses, see Tiaa (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Tiaa.
TIAA
Company typeNon-profit corporation owning subsidiaries for-profit
Founded1918; 106 years ago (1918)
FounderAndrew Carnegie
Headquarters730 Third Avenue,
New York City, New York
,
United States
Key people
Thasunda Duckett (CEO)[1]
Roger W. Ferguson Jr. (former CEO)
ProductsFinancial services
RevenueUS$40.454 billion (2020)[1]
US$1.492 billion (FY 2016)
AUMIncrease US$1.3 trillion (2020)[2]
Total assetsIncrease US$615.042 billion (2020)[1]
Total equityIncrease US$ 38.871 billion (2020)[1]
Number of employees
Decrease 16,533 (2020)[1]
SubsidiariesNuveen, TIAA Bank, Westchester Group
Websitetiaa.org

The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF) is an American financial services organization that is a private provider of financial retirement services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA is listed on the Fortune 100 and serves over 5 million active and retired employees participating at more than 15,000 institutions and has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of December 31, 2017).[2]

Profile

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Long organized as a tax-exempt non-profit organization, a 1997 tax bill removed TIAA's tax exemption.[3] It is now organized as a non-profit organization, the TIAA Board of Governors,[4] with taxable subsidiaries; all profits are returned to policyholders.[citation needed]

TIAA bought its Manhattan headquarters building, 730 Third Avenue, in 1955.[5][6] It has major offices in Denver, Colorado; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Dallas, Texas; as well as 70 local offices throughout the U.S. In 2018, TIAA ranked 84th on Fortune's list of the 500 largest corporations in America.[7] As of 2017, TIAA is the largest global investor in agriculture, the second-largest grower of wine grapes in the United States (by acreage), and the third-largest commercial real estate manager in the world.[2]

History

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In 1918, Andrew Carnegie and his Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, under the leadership of Henry S. Pritchett, 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.[8][unreliable source] The policyholders voted in 1921 to implement policyholder representation on the TIAA board so that educators would have a role in running the organization.[9][10]

TIAA's namesake and signature investment/insurance product is the TIAA Traditional, which offers a contractually guaranteed return on principal and, at the discretion of the board of trustees on a periodic basis, additional profit/dividend interest over and above the guaranteed return. From the relatively illiquid and stable, long-term investments of its general account, TIAA has been able to consistently add some dividends to TIAA Traditional contributions since 1948.[11]

Annuities and Real-Estate

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In 1952, TIAA created the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) a variable annuity, in order to diversify its retirement funds.[12]

In 1995, TIAA introduced the TIAA Real Estate account, also a variable annuity, but more stable than equity investments and more flexible than TIAA Traditional.[11]

21st century

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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.[citation needed]

On February 22, 2016, TIAA-CREF rebranded as simply TIAA as part of a new marketing and imaging campaign. CMO Connie Weaver explained that the old name was perceived by customers as being complicated, and that the new branding scheme was meant to portray a simpler and friendlier image of the organization.[13][14]

As of February 2018, TIAA was providing parental leave irrespective of the parent's gender.[15]

Environmental Impacts

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In May 2021, TIAA announced its net zero by 2050 commitment for the General Account.[16] In 2022, TIAA’s annual climate report, “Ensuring Our Future,”[17] stated that TIAA views climate risk as investment risk. A November 2022 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) asserts that TIAA’s failure to divest its fossil fuel holdings to clear its portfolio of financial and environmental risk is strategically unsound.[18]

On October 19, 2022, nearly 300 TIAA clients filed a complaint with the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment initiative (PRI), asking PRI to remove TIAA from its list of sustainable investors.[19] TIAA is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel investors,[20] with at least $78 billion[17] invested in coal, oil and gas industries. After the top two coal investors Vanguard and BlackRock, TIAA is the fifth largest holder of coal bonds worldwide with $6.7 billion invested in companies that mine, transport, and burn coal for energy.[21] PRI agreed to review the complaint but dismissed it after internal review.

In March of 2024, a group of TIAA clients and university student activists published their response[22][23][24] to TIAA sponsoring the Big 10 while utilizing harmful investing practices.[25] The activists stated that land grabs,[26] the spraying of toxic chemicals, and fossil fuel investments are contributing to the climate crisis.

Investments and diversification

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Nearly a year after the acquisition of EverBank, TIAA began rebranding all of its banking activities under the TIAA Bank name on June 4, 2018.[32] In November 2022, TIAA announced plans to sell TIAA Bank to private investors. TIAA Bank changed its name back to EverBank when the transaction was completed.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "TIAA". 2021 Fortune 500.
  2. ^ a b c "Q4 2017 Facts and Stats" (PDF). TIAA. January 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  3. ^ Abelson, Reed. "Budget Deal to Cost T.I.A.A.-C.R.E.F. Its Tax Exemption", The New York Times. 20 July 1997.
  4. ^ "TIAA Governors & Trustees". TIAA. TIAA-CREF. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  5. ^ Schram, Lauren Elkies (30 January 2018). "TIAA Selling HQ Building at 730 Third Avenue [Updated]".
  6. ^ "On second thought, TIAA doesn't want to sell its headquarters". October 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  8. ^ Lowell, Jim (14 October 2006). "TIAA-CREF's 401(k) Options". Forbes. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Our History: 100 years of serving those who do good in the world". Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  10. ^ Greenough, William C (1990). It's My Retirement Money, Take Good Care of It: The TIAA-CREF Story. Boston, MA 02116: IRWIN Homewood, IL 60430. ISBN 0-256-08657-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. ^ a b Schloss, Irving S.; Abildsoe, Deborah V. (2000). "Chapter 16: What are the TIAA investment choices?". Understanding TIAA-CREF: How to Plan for a Secure and Comfortable Retirement. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 69–71. ISBN 0195131975. This book has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by TIAA-CREF or any affiliated organization.
  12. ^ Hershey, Jr., Robert D. (November 12, 2000). "Teachers' Fund Happily Learns a New Math, Plus Tax". The New York Times.
  13. ^ Svaldi, Aldo (22 February 2016). "Denver employer TIAA-CREF dropping second half of name". The Denver Post. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  14. ^ Monllos, Kristina (22 February 2016). "Rebranded TIAA Hopes Its Shortened Name Makes Financial Planning Seem Simpler". Adweek. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  15. ^ Webber, Lauren (21 February 2018). "Some Companies Move to Gender-Blind Leave for New Parents". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  16. ^ "TIAA General Account is Committing to Achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2050 | TIAA". www.tiaa.org. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  17. ^ a b "Ensuring our future" (PDF). TIAA. 2022.
  18. ^ "TIAA fails clients on climate". ieefa.org. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  19. ^ "Formal complaint regarding Serious Violations of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) by signatory Nuveen, a TIAA company" (PDF). 2022-10-19.
  20. ^ Mulvey, Lauren (2021-04-20). "Activists finally seeing movement on fossil fuel divestment". The Legislative Gazette. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  21. ^ "Who is investing in toxic coal bonds?". Reclaim Finance. 2022-03-07. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  22. ^ Khandelwal, Meena. "TIAA is sponsoring Big Ten basketball. Know that it's driving the climate crisis". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  23. ^ "Eric Hayot and Ned Ketyer: TIAA's 'sportswashing' its contribution to climate change". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  24. ^ "Letter | Don't let 'sportswashing' ruin Badger pride". The Cap Times. 2024-03-20. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  25. ^ Finholdt, Isabella. "Ignoring Warning Signs, US Retirement Manager TIAA Bought Farms from Alleged Land Grabbers with Brazilian Sugar Giant". OCCRP. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  26. ^ II, Vann R. Newkirk (2019-08-12). "The Great Land Robbery". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  27. ^ Garfield, Richard (14 October 2012). "Festival Place is sold for £280 million". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  28. ^ Phillips, David (May 17, 2013). "GGP and TIAA-CREF Partnership Buys Grand Canal Shoppes for $410M". GlobeSt. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  29. ^ Condon, Christopher; Stein, Charles (14 April 2014). "TIAA-CREF to Buy Nuveen Investments in $6.25 Billion Deal". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  30. ^ Ensign, Rachel Louise; Telis, Demos (8 August 2016). "TIAA to buy EverBank for $2.5 billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 February 2019 – via MarketWatch.
  31. ^ "TIAA Completes Acquisition of EverBank" (Press release). TIAA. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  32. ^ Gibbons, Timothy. "As TIAA Bank becomes official, merger 'favorable' to Jacksonville job market". Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  33. ^ "TIAA Bank to Become EverBank | News | EverBank".
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