Socially Responsible Investing: Community Investing

TIAA-CREF seeks to generate competitive returns for our participants by specializing in focused, high social impact investment programs across a wide variety of assets.

Our combined community investing programs represented nearly $734 million in commitments and investments as of December 31, 2009. These programs are currently funded through the TIAA General Account* and through targeted investments in the fixed-income portion of the CREF Social Choice Account.

Corporate Social Real Estate Program
This program focuses on investments in affordable housing, workforce housing, urban and transit-oriented commercial development, and sustainable (“green”) development. As of December 31, 2008, TIAA-CREF had an aggregate, committed amount of approximately $580 million representing multiple investments in areas earmarked as Economic Development Areas and/or Lower to Moderate Income census tracts.

Examples of our Corporate Social Real Estate investments include:

• A $10 million commitment, made in December 2008, to the Northwest Louisiana Community Development Fund, which helps promote sustainable development and improve the quality of life in a ten-parish region of Northwest Louisiana
• New investments within TIAA's $25 million commitment to the Crossbeam Capital Workforce Housing Fund 2001-A, including a $24.3 million investment in a 567-unit apartment in Brooklyn, New York
• New acquisitions within TIAA's $30 million commitment to the Community Reinvestment Partners II Fund, including an $8.9 million investment in a grocery-anchored retail center in Lehigh Acres, Florida

Global Microfinance Investment Program
In February 2008, TIAA-CREF made a $10 million investment in Catalyst Microfinance Investors (CMI), a private equity investment fund focused on microfinance opportunities in Asia and Africa. This investment is part of our $100 million, four-year Global Microfinance Investment Program that began in September 2006 with a $43 million private equity placement in ProCredit Holding AG, a leading microfinance company. Microfinance investments enable clients to seek competitive returns through investments that promote human rights and economic development.

Community Bank Deposit Program
Through this program, launched in January 2007, TIAA-CREF makes sizable investments in FDIC-insured certificates of deposit at local community development banks that help underserved geographic and business markets. The first investment was for $22 million with subsidiaries of ShoreBank Corp., America's largest community development bank. Our relationship with ShoreBank has continued, and, in December 2008 TIAA-CREF more than doubled the size of the Community Bank Deposit Program – to nearly $50 million in FDIC-insured deposits – by adding six banks to the program.

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