TIAA Clients Named 2020 Plan Sponsors of the Year for Commitment to Participant Retirement Success, Sweep Nonprofit Category

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Sep 16, 2020, 14:36 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TIAA, a leading financial services provider, announced today that three clients have been named "2020 Plan Sponsors of the Year" by PLANSPONSOR magazine, sweeping the nonprofit category. The institutions selected as winners for their respective categories include The University System of Georgia, Cobleskill Regional Hospital and Yale University.

PLANSPONSOR's "Plan Sponsor of the Year" is an annual awards program that recognizes retirement plan sponsors that show a commitment to their participants' financial health and retirement success.

"TIAA is honored to work alongside such incredible partners dedicated to improving retirement readiness and outcomes for their participants," said Doug Chittenden, Executive Vice President and Head of Institutional Relationships, TIAA. "Their efforts are especially critical now in light of the unprecedented economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and will help to ensure participants are able to continue to meet their long-term financial goals."

The organizations selected include:

The University System of Georgia, which includes 26 public institutions across Georgia, was recognized in the Public Defined Contribution category for its Retirement Plans Modernization Project. The project included streamlining 78 voluntary plans across each institution into one system-wide 403(b) plan and one 457(b) plan; consolidating the number of plan providers from 13 to three; offering a simplified and tiered the investment menu and; reducing participant fees by $7 million while also increasing transparency.

Cobleskill Regional Hospital, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Bassett Healthcare Network, won the Nonprofit Defined Contribution category for < $500MM. The small facility had limited resources to devote to its 403(b) retirement plan, but by implementing automatic enrollment and automatic escalation for employees, now has a 93 percent participation rate, including many low-wage earners. To help participants continue to save for retirement, TIAA staff members are available on-site to discuss their financial health.

Yale University, a private Ivy League university in New Haven, Connecticut, won the Nonprofit Defined Contribution category for >$500MM for its futuristic method of putting participants on the path to retirement security. In 2019, Yale implemented a new investment lineup consisting of mutual funds, variable annuities and a guaranteed annuity. It also built a custom QDIA—a managed account with quarterly rebalancing of custom portfolios that behaves like a target-date fund and includes a guaranteed annuity with an option for lifetime income. Added together with offering employees immediate eligibility and immediate vesting in employer contributions, automatic enrollment at a 5% deferral rate, automatic escalation, and Roth 403(b) deferrals, the innovative plan design features are intended to create a secure retirement for its employees. The University also offers financial wellness education and has three full-time TIAA financial advisors—including two on-site—to support faculty and staff.

About TIAA

With an award-winning¹ track record for consistent investment performance, TIAA (TIAA.org) is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields. TIAA has $1.1 trillion in assets under management (as of 6/30/2020²) and offers a wide range of financial solutions, including investing, banking, advice and education, and retirement services.

¹ The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return rating, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 months. Lipper Leaders fund ratings do not constitute and are not intended to constitute investment advice or an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security of any entity in any jurisdiction. For more information, see lipperfundawards.com. Lipper Fund Awards from Refinitiv, ©2020 Refinitiv. All rights reserved. Used under license. The Award is based on a review of risk-adjusted performance of 39 companies for 2016, 36 for 2017, 35 for 2018 & 2019, and 30 for 2020. The award pertains only to the TIAA-CREF mutual funds in the mixed-asset category. Without such waivers ratings could be lower. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For current performance, rankings and prospectuses, please visit TIAA.org.

² Based on $1.1 trillion of assets under management across Nuveen affiliates and TIAA investment management teams as of 6/30/20.

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