Investor Loyalty to TIAA-CREF Grows Amid Market Uncertainty
Clients Value Strength, Stability and Focus on Retirement Income
New York, December 12, 2008
TIAA-CREF’s client loyalty increased by double digits amid ongoing market volatility, according to Investor Brandscape™ 2009, a national study of 4,000 affluent Americans released this month by Cogent Research of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
TIAA-CREF, which moved to fourth from sixth on a list of the top 23 firms measured by loyalty, achieved double-digit gains over the two year period. The survey, which compares customer loyalty scores companies earn today with those they received two years ago, assesses changes in Net Promoter Score® (NPS), a proxy for customer loyalty.
"The recent uncertainty has concentrated investor attention on the strength and stability of the firms with which they do business," said Bertram L. Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Institutional Development and Sales Officer, TIAA-CREF. "It also underscores the value TIAA-CREF clients see in our focus not only on wealth accumulation, but lifetime retirement income."
TIAA-CREF clients benefit from:
- TIAA is one of just three U.S. life insurance companies to receive the highest possible ratings from all four of the major ratings agencies.1
- TIAA has a strong capital base of approximately $20 billion backing client commitments (as of 9/30/08).
- TIAA-CREF offers unique products to help clients diversify their portfolios. For example, the TIAA Traditional annuity provides guaranteed principal2; a guaranteed minimum rate of interest, with the opportunity to receive additional amounts in excess of the guaranteed rate (paid every year since 1948)3; and guaranteed lifetime annuity income through a variety of flexible income options at retirement.2
- More than 500,000 TIAA-CREF participants received a combined $10 billion in income in 2007.
- TIAA-CREF’s objective, non-commissioned4 advice model assists clients in creating and maintaining a well-diversified, appropriately allocated portfolio, which can help weather market volatility.
- TIAA-CREF’s independent Risk Management function, reporting directly to the president and CEO, helps ensure the independence of risk managers and reflects a systematic, organization-wide approach to intelligent risk taking and risk-based decision making.
- TIAA-CREF’s non-profit heritage means the organization operates without profit to the corporation or its stockholders, and does not have to manage the short-term earnings expectations that confront publicly held insurance companies. In practice, this means that profits are distributed to policyholders in the form of returns over the lifetime of their association with TIAA, or remain available for purposes that the Trustees of TIAA determine can help uphold TIAA’s mission. CREF operates at cost (i.e., without profit), with investment returns passed through to participants and reflected in account asset values.
About TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization with more than $398 billion in combined assets under management (9/30/08) and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.
TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products.
Advice and Planning Services is a division of TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC.
You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Please call 877 518-9161, or go to www.tiaa-cref.org for a current prospectus that contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Insurance and annuity products issued by TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America), New York, NY and TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co., New York, NY.
Media Contact:
Chad Peterson, Director, Corporate Media Relations
cpeterson@tiaa-cref.org, 212 916-4808 Cell: 917 715-9083
Abby Aylman Cohen, Manager, Corporate Media Relations
aacohen@tiaa-cref.org, 212 916-4381 Cell: 917 596-4758
1 A++, A.M. Best (9/2008); AAA, Fitch Ratings (8/2008); Aaa, Moody's (7/2008); AAA, S&P (8/2008).
Ratings are based on an independent analysis of TIAA's balance sheet, capital position, contingency reserves and asset valuation reserve, asset quality, liquidity and other key indicators of financial strength and stability. These ratings are for TIAA as an insurance company and do not apply to variable annuities, mutual funds or any other product or service not fully backed by the claims-paying ability of TIAA or TIAA-CREF Life.
2 Lifetime income is subject to the claims-paying ability of TIAA.
3 Interest credited to TIAA Traditional Annuity accumulations includes a guaranteed rate, plus additional amounts that are established on a year-by-year basis. The additional amounts, when declared, remain in effect through the "declaration year," which begins each March 1. There is no assurance that additional amounts will be declared in future years.
4 Our advisors receive no commissions. They are compensated through a salary plus incentive program that focuses on client service excellence.
