June 25, 2008

TIAA-CREF Unveils Compliance Coordinator Service

Web-Based Service to Help Clients Manage New 403(b) Regulations

TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, medical and cultural fields today introduced TIAA-CREF's Compliance Coordinator, a web-based application that will allow retirement plan sponsors to proactively manage plan participant loan and hardship withdrawal requests as required by the new 403(b) regulations that take effect on January 1, 2009.  The application was conceived by TIAA-CREF and will be developed in partnership with and hosted by Advent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVS), a leading provider of software and services to the investment management industry.

TIAA-CREF's Compliance Coordinator will aggregate data from multiple vendors to assist in preventing non-compliant transactions before they occur and help plan sponsors verify compliance with IRS loan limits and hardship withdrawal regulations through enhanced reporting. All data will be transferred in accordance with standards created by the Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Record Keepers (SPARK) based on input from a number of leading 403(b) providers. For plan sponsors working solely with TIAA-CREF, TIAA-CREF will continue to ensure all loan limits and hardship withdrawal rules are met, supplemented with an enhanced reporting package to better enable these clients to track their own plans' activity.
 
"Our clients have told us they are looking for streamlined solutions to meet their new fiduciary and regulatory responsibilities," said Ed Van Dolsen, Executive Vice President, Institutional Client Services, TIAA-CREF. "TIAA-CREF's Compliance Coordinator will allow clients to stay ahead of these obligations and facilitate data sharing across multiple vendors.  This is one of a wide variety of products and services where TIAA-CREF is drawing on our expertise to help plan sponsors understand and meet these new demands." 

TIAA-CREF's Compliance Coordinator will pool data from all approved plan vendors, and will allow plan administrators to monitor loan and hardship withdrawal activity across the plan.  In addition, each approved plan investment provider will have access to data for their participants within the plan, and will be able to use the data to approve or decline requests as appropriate; however, they will not be able to access account-specific data from other vendors' clients.

Building on its 90 year commitment to colleges, universities and other non-profits, TIAA-CREF has created a suite of services to help plan sponsors comply with the added obligations of new 403(b) plan rules and to meet other plan goals.

In addition to Compliance Coordinator, TIAA-CREF is responding to clients' needs through extensive communication and training for administrators, a full-service specimen 403(b) plan document program, a comprehensive compliance guide and other services to help ensure compliance across 403(b) plans.

"The new 403(b) regulations require increased oversight across multiple investment providers. This task could quickly increase the workload and expense of running our employee retirement plans," said Heidi E. Conway, Senior Director for Benefits Services and Human Resources Shared Services, Johns Hopkins University.  "We look forward to a service that will streamline this process and allow us to both retrieve and analyze activity across multiple providers."
 
TIAA-CREF selected Advent as its partner for the Compliance Coordinator service because of the company's legacy of success with its Advent® Custodial Data, which collects, consolidates and electronically delivers secure, standardized custodial data from more than 470 custodians to over 3,000 investment firms.

"Advent is very pleased to partner with TIAA-CREF to develop an innovative approach to a critical industry issue," said Pete Hess, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Advent's Investment Management Group. "For 25 years, we've delivered mission-critical solutions for investment managers; now, we look forward to bringing our expertise to bear on the data challenges facing the 403(b) market."

"TIAA-CREF's Compliance Coordinator allows plan sponsors to see aggregated and individual participant loan and hardship activity across all vendors within the plan," said Paul J. Gallagher, Vice President of Service Strategy for the Institutional Client Services division of TIAA-CREF.  "That information will help ensure that plan sponsors stay in compliance."

TIAA-CREF serves more than 3.4 million active and retired employees of more than 15,000 institutions.

About TIAA-CREF

TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields with $420 billion in combined assets under management. (3/31/08).

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products.

About Advent

Advent Software, Inc. (www.advent.com), a global company, has provided trusted solutions to the world's leading financial professionals since 1983.  Firms in 60 countries use Advent technology and manage investments totaling nearly US $18 trillion.  Advent's quality software, data, services and tools enable financial professionals to improve service and communication to their clients, allowing them to grow their business while controlling costs.  Advent is the only financial services software company to be awarded the Service Capability and Performance certification for being a world-class support organization.  For more information on Advent products visit http://www.advent.com/about/resources/demos/pr. 

Advent is a registered trademark of Advent Software, Inc.  All other company names or marks mentioned herein are those of their respective owners.