TIAA-CREF's Commitment To Service Quality
October 29, 2009 -- TIAA-CREF continues to broaden our range of financial products and services to offer expanded investment and retirement options and help you make sound financial decisions. At the same time, we are taking steps to improve our technology and service infrastructure to increase our ability to meet your needs – quickly and accurately. During this complex transition, some individuals experienced delayed transactions and other service shortfalls. We apologize for any issues or problems this transition may have caused.
We have now successfully moved all plan and client accounts to a single, modern, reliable service platform. Thanks to our service improvement efforts, we consistently complete most client transactions on the day they are received and our quality control measures help to ensure that these transactions are accurate as well as timely. While some individuals may still experience delays, our overall customer service continues to improve. We will keep focusing on our service initiatives until we can again deliver the service you deserve from TIAA-CREF. Below, we have posted some frequently asked questions about the service issues experienced and the actions TIAA-CREF continues to take to uphold our historic mission of meeting your financial needs on the best terms practicable.
Where there have been shortfalls, what are you doing to fix the problems?
We continue to take steps to help ensure that all participants can rely on their transactions being processed in a timely manner, their account statements being accurate, and queries or complaints responded to and resolved quickly and completely.
What guidance can you give clients who have a service problem?
If you experience a problem with your transaction or account, please contact a TIAA-CREF customer service representative at 1 800 842-2776. Representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (ET), and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (ET). See additional ways to Contact Us. We will work to resolve your problem as quickly as possible.
When do you expect these issues to be resolved?
We have now moved all plan and client accounts to our new service platform. In addition, we have made process improvements and are now completing most client transactions on the day they are received. Our quality control measurements show that these transactions are accurate as well as timely. Even so, we will continue to work on accelerating service improvements and improving overall service quality until we feel confident that we can deliver the service that you expect from TIAA-CREF. Of course, we will continue compensating individuals for economic loss as a result of delays we have caused.
Why has it appeared to be such a challenge for TIAA-CREF?
This was an unprecedented technological transformation for TIAA-CREF and essential to meeting our clients' financial needs. In some cases making improvements to our service infrastructure has entailed replacing thirty-year-old systems and the software that runs them. Moving all of our plan and client accounts to one platform was a complex undertaking, but one that is already benefiting clients by allowing us to deliver expanded choices of funds and accounts, personalized advice and other advantages on a modern, reliable platform.
What benefits can TIAA-CREF clients expect as result of the company's transformation?
Clients can expect that TIAA-CREF's combination of choice, objective, non-commissioned1 advice, consistent historical performance2 over the long term, and guaranteed lifetime income options3 surpasses what is available from many other full-service financial services companies. Unlike our competitors, TIAA-CREF's sole and defining purpose is to serve individuals and institutions in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.
1 Our Advisors receive no commissions. They are compensated through a salary-plus-incentive program that focuses on client service excellence.
2 Past performance cannot guarantee future results. Like most fund families, TIAA-CREF mutual funds have been adversely affected by recent market volatility.
3 Guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuer.
All TIAA-CREF investment products are subject to market risk and other risk factors, which can be found in each product's prospectus. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products. Annuity products are issued by TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association), New York, NY. Advice and Planning Services is a division of TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services LL
