TIAA’s Statement on “Triple-A” Financial Strength Rating from Moody’s

Moody’s Investors Service’s affirmation of the “Aaa” insurance financial strength rating of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”) reflects the exceptional financial security TIAA offers. Moody’s also announced a change in their rating outlook for TIAA to stable.

In a statement released today, Moody’s said that the affirmation of TIAA’s ratings and the change in outlook were driven primarily by the company’s strengthened capital position and an expectation of improved earnings over the near-to-medium term. Moody’s further noted that since the financial crisis TIAA has taken several measures to improve its statutory capital by over $5 billion, including issuing surplus notes of $2 billion last year.

Moody’s also noted that TIAA benefits from an excellent business profile, evidenced by the company’s strong franchise and dominant position in the higher-education pension market, and that the company has a strong financial profile, given its improved capital base, unique and stable liability structure with very little surrender risk and conservative products.

TIAA has the highest rating for insurance financial strength from all four major rating agencies:

• Moody’s: Financial strength is Aaa with a stable outlook (as of 7/10)
• S&P: Financial strength is AAA with a negative outlook (as of 5/10)
• Fitch: Financial strength is AAA with a stable outlook (as of 4/10)
• A.M. Best: Financial strength is A++ with a stable outlook (as of 12/09) 

About TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization with $426 billion in combined assets under management (as of 3/31/10) and provides retirement services to the nonprofit and government fields.