History
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.
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.
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.
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 June 28, 2007, the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) announced its selection of TIAA–CREF as the sole investment provider for its supplemental retirement savings programs. CalSTRS is the second-largest public pension plan and the largest teachers' retirement fund in the United States.
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.
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.
On November 16, 2009, TIAA–CREF signed an agreement with a third-party to sublet the 17th, 18th, and 27th floors of the New York headquarters building at 730 Third Avenue.
On September 14, 2012, TIAA-CREF bought Festival Place, a shopping centre in Basingstoke, England for £280 million.
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