CREF Holds Annual Meeting

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TIAA-CREF, a leading financial services provider, today held the CREF annual meeting at the organization’s offices in Charlotte, North Carolina. CREF is a SEC-registered investment company and the companion organization to TIAA, a New York-based life insurance company. Together, TIAA-CREF provides retirement plans, IRAs, mutual funds, brokerage services, life insurance, college savings plans, trust services and outsourced endowment management services.

“We strengthened our capital position, delivered strong investment performance, managed risk and invested in our company so that we can further improve the service we provide.”

“The past year was one of our best ever in achieving our guiding goal of creating long-term value for our participants,” said chief executive Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. “We strengthened our capital position, delivered strong investment performance, managed risk and invested in our company so that we can further improve the service we provide.”

Mr. Ferguson cited the following examples of the organization’s progress:

Investment performance -- As of June 30 of last year, TIAA-CREF reached an important milestone, when fully 100% of its funds and variable annuity accounts were rated as 3, 4 or 5 stars overall by Morningstar across all asset classes, based on risk-adjusted returns (79% – 3 stars, 19% – 4 stars; 2% – 5 stars).¹
Value – The company made significant progress in continuing to reduce expenses. CREF’s average total expense ratio was down to 44 basis points compared to 58 basis points three years ago.
Financial strength – TIAA continues to receive the highest possible ratings from all four leading insurance company rating agencies – S&P, Moody’s, Fitch, and AM Best.²In addition, the company’s capital reserves also reached record levels. These triple-A ratings and capital reserves underscore TIAA’s stability, claims-paying ability and financial strength.

TIAA-CREF’s assets under management reached an all-time high, ending 2010 with assets under management at $453 billion dollars. Assets under management have continued to grow in 2011, standing at approximately $470 billion dollars as of June 30.

In meeting-related actions, CREF participants:

Elected Trustees Forrest Berkley, Nancy A. Eckl, Michael A. Forrester, Howell E. Jackson, Nancy L. Jacob, Bridget A. Macaskill, James M. Poterba, Maceo K. Sloan, and Laura T. Starks to additional one-year terms; and
Ratified the Trustees' selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as CREF's independent auditors for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011 with approximately 95 percent voting in favor of ratification (voting results are preliminary, but are expected to be within one percent of final tallies).

TIAA separately announced that David F. Swensen has retired from the TIAA Board of Trustees, effective July 14th 2011, having served as a trustee since 2003. Dr. Swensen will continue to be actively involved with TIAA as a Trustee Emeritus, a newly-created role in which he will act as a consultant to the TIAA Investment Committee. Dr. Swensen was elected a Trustee Emeritus for a two-year period at the May 2011 meeting of the TIAA Board of Overseers.

Mr. Ferguson said, “David’s election to this new and important role recognizes the valuable contribution he has made to TIAA during his term as a trustee. We are delighted to have someone with David’s unrivalled investment experience and knowledge continuing to contribute to TIAA by advising the Investment Committee.”

In addition, TIAA policyholders expressed support for the organization’s executive compensation policies through an advisory vote on the compensation of TIAA’s named executive officers. Preliminary results of the TIAA advisory vote on executive compensation show that approximately 80 percent of TIAA policyholders who voted approved of the quality of TIAA's executive compensation plan and disclosure, including its connection to performance, achievement of TIAA's business objectives and creation of long-term value for policyholders.

In 2007, TIAA was the first U.S. company to voluntarily adopt and implement an advisory vote on its compensation policies and related disclosure.

The full text of Roger Ferguson's remarks is available on the TIAA-CREF website and can be accessed at the following the link: http://www.tiaa-cref.org/public/about/news/articles/gen1107_267.html

About TIAA-CREF

TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization with approximately $470 billion in assets under management (as of 6/30/11) and is the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

ⁱ As of 3/3/2011. Based on Morningstar data for share classes that have completed one calendar year of performance. Current rankings may be higher or lower on a monthly basis. Morningstar is an independent service that rates mutual funds and variable annuities. The top 10% of accounts in an investment category receive five stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars, and the next 35% receive three stars. Morningstar proprietary ratings reflect historical risk-adjusted performance and can change every month. They are calculated from the account’s three-, five- and ten-year average annual returns in excess of 90-day Treasury bill returns with appropriate fee adjustments, and a risk factor that reflects subaccount performance below 90-day T-bill returns. The overall star ratings are Morningstar’s published ratings, which are weighted averages of its three-, five- and ten-year ratings for periods ended March 31, 2011. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

ⁱⁱ TIAA has the highest rating for insurance financial strength from all four major rating agencies. Moody’s: Financial strength is Aaa (as of 6/11). S&P: Financial strength is AAA (as of 6/11). Fitch: Financial strength is AAA (as of 6/11). A.M. Best: Financial strength is A++ (as of 2/11). These ratings are subject to change and do not apply to variable annuities, mutual funds or any other product or service not fully backed by TIAA's claims-paying ability. There is no guarantee that current ratings will be maintained.

TIAA-CREF products may be subject to market and other risk factors. See the applicable product literature, or visit www.tiaa-cref.org for details Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Please call 877 518-9161, or go to tiaa-cref.org for a current prospectus that contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products. Annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY.

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