please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message for other uses see tiaa disambiguation . tiaa type not for profit founded 1918 headquarters 730 third avenue new york city new york united states key people roger w. ferguson jr. president & ceo products financial services revenue us 32.22 billion 2010 net income us 1.405 billion 2010 total assets us 889 billion 2016 1 number of employees 12 950 2016 2 website tiaa.org tiaa formerly tiaa cref teachers insurance and annuity association college retirement equities fund is a fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic research medical and cultural fields . tiaa serves over 5 million active and retired employees participating at more than 16 000 institutions and has 889 billion 3 in combined assets under management as of june 30 2016 . much of tiaa operates on a not for profit basis with surplus returned to participants . tiaa is headquartered in new york city in the united states and has major offices in denver colorado ; charlotte north carolina ; and dallas texas ; as well as seventy local offices throughout the u.s. . in 2013 tiaa ranked 97th on fortune s list of the 500 largest corporations in america . 4 as of 2016 tiaa is the largest global investor in agriculture the 2nd largest grower of wine grapes in the united states by acreage and the 3rd largest commercial real estate manager in the world . 5 contents 1 profile 2 history 3 see also 4 references 5 external links profile edit this section reads like a news release or is otherwise written in a promotional tone . please help by either rewriting this article from a neutral point of view or by moving this article to wikinews . when appropriate blatant advertising may be marked for speedy deletion with db spam . february 2016 tiaa was created to replace the system of free pensions provided by carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching for professors . when the original fund proved inadequate tiaa was created in an act of the new york state legislature in 1918 as a stock life insurance company for the purpose of providing retirement income for professors through fixed premium guaranteed deferred annuity contracts . later in 1952 cref was created to allow professors to invest in the stock market through the nation s first variable annuity . its core business continues to be retirement plan administration and annuity products . it is by far the largest manager of employer sponsored 403 b tax sheltered annuity plans a defined contribution retirement plan for employees of 501 c 3 educational religious and charitable organizations . the company also offers 401 k and 457 plans keogh plans and supplemental retirement plans . contributions from these plans are typically invested in the company s traditional or variable annuities or its line of mutual funds . in recent years the company has greatly expanded its capabilities and advisory services and broadened clients investment choices . internally it has focused on developing customer support it infrastructure and leadership development . 6 at the retail level tiaa offers traditional and rollover individual retirement accounts roth iras mutual funds after tax annuities and life insurance through tiaa life 529 college savings plans coverdell education savings accounts financial planning and trust and investment management through tiaa trust company fsb . these investments are offered to the general public and tiaa is no longer limited to the academic community . 7 on the institutional side tiaa asset management serves institutional investors and intermediaries including registered investment advisors investment only defined contribution platforms and broker dealers . while tiaa is considered to be an academic pension option at universities in the us it is not associated with the concept of unions or organized labor which traditionally sought and protected the pensions of workers in the us . so if a worker s lifetime pension is affected at a university tiaa is not operated as a party involved in labor management or management management disputes . history edit in 1918 andrew carnegie and his carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching under the leadership of henry s. pritchett created the teachers insurance and annuity association of america tiaa a fully funded system of pensions for professors . funding was provided by a combination of grants from the foundation and carnegie corporation of new york as well as ongoing contributions from participating institutions and individuals . in 1921 the policyholders voted to nominate professor samuel m. lindsay of columbia university to represent them on the tiaa board of trustees . policyholder representation on the tiaa board was consistent with the carnegie foundation desire that educators assume a role in running the organization . 7 conservative investing allowed tiaa to survive the 1929 stock market crash and the great depression . in 1933 albert einstein became a participant a fact that tiaa cref later used in a notable 2001 advertising campaign . 8 after world war ii in reaction to rising inflation and lengthening life expectancies and a dramatic expansion of the education sector with the g.i. bill tiaa recognized the need for its participants to invest in equities in order to diversify their retirement funds . in 1952 tiaa created the college retirement equities fund cref a variable annuity for that purpose . citation needed on june 15 2007 tiaa became one of the first u.s. companies to voluntarily adopt and the first to implement a policyholder advisory vote on executive compensation policy . on august 12 2008 tiaa cref announced the opening of a new office in london . the office will be staffed by local investment professionals who will extend tiaa cref global real estate s activities in the united kingdom and europe . citation needed on september 7 2008 herb allison the former chairman and ceo of tiaa cref was tapped to lead beleaguered home mortgage backer fannie mae as part of a government bailout engineered by u.s. treasury secretary henry paulson . citation needed 730 third avenue on september 14 2012 tiaa cref bought festival place a shopping center in basingstoke england for 280 million . citation needed on may 16 2013 tiaa cref purchased a 50 % stake in the grand canal shoppes including the shoppes at the palazzo in las vegas for net proceeds of 410 million usd as part of a new joint venture with general growth properties . ggp will continue to oversee the asset management of the project . citation needed on april 14 2014 tiaa cref announced that it would acquire nuveen investments in a deal valued at 6.25 billion . 9 on february 22 2016 tiaa cref rebranded as simply tiaa as part of a new marketing and imaging campaign . cmo connie weaver explained that the old name was perceived by customers as being complicated and that the new branding scheme was meant to portray a simpler and friendlier image of the organization . 10 11 on august 8 2016 tiaa reached a deal to buy everbank financial corp. for 2.5 billion in cash . 12 see also edit companies portal list of companies of the united states references edit template https www.tiaa.org public pdf about tiaa fast stats.pdf template https www.tiaa.org public pdf about tiaa fast stats.pdf template https www.tiaa.org public pdf about tiaa fast stats.pdf fortune 500 2013 full list fortune . money.cnn.com . retrieved on 2013 08 21 . template https www.tiaa.org public pdf about tiaa fast stats.pdf tiaa cref lead initiative . retrieved february 22 2011 . a b company history . retrieved november 26 2009 . tiaa cref campaign managing money for people with other things to think about albert einstein pdf . tiaa cref to buy nuveen investments in 6.25 billion deal . bloomberg news . retrieved 24 february 2016 . denver employer tiaa cref dropping second half of name . the denver post . retrieved 24 february 2016 . rebranded tiaa hopes its shortened name makes financial planning seem simpler . adweek . retrieved 24 february 2016 . http www.marketwatch.com story tiaa to buy everbank for 25 billion 2016 08 08 external links edit tiaa.org company s official website v t e 50 largest banks and bank holding companies in the united states ally american express bancwest bank of america bank of new york mellon bb & t bbva compass bmo harris capital one charles schwab cit citigroup citizens comerica deutsche discover e trade fifth third first niagara ge capital goldman sachs hsbc bank usa huntington john deere jpmorgan chase key m & t morgan stanley mufg union mutual of omaha nationwide new york community northern trust people s united pnc popular rbc usa regions santander state farm state street suntrust svb synchrony td tiaa u.s. usaa wells fargo zions indicates the u.s. subsidiary of a non u.s. bank . inclusion on this list is based on u.s. assets only and is current as of december 31 2015 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title tiaa & oldid 739250927 categories andrew carnegiecompanies based in manhattancompanies established in 19181918 establishments in new yorkfinancial services companies based in new york cityinsurance companies based in new york citymutual fund familiesnon profit organizations based in new yorkretirement plans in the united stateshidden categories articles needing additional references from november 2008all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parametersarticles with a promotional tone from february 2016all articles with a promotional toneall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from february 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views 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