The global economic crisis has proved the value of TIAA-CREF’s fundamental model, says the company’s president and CEO.
 |
Currently, TIAA-CREF has 3.4 million clients and works with 15,000 institutions to deliver their products. Diverse recently spoke to TIAA-CREF President and CEO Roger Ferguson Jr. to discuss how the company is responding to the crisis and, more importantly, to its members, as the recession deepens and retirement plan preservation becomes the order of the day.
DI: You’ve been on the road a lot. What kinds of things are you hearing from your members, people who are participating in TIAACREF? FERGUSON: Well, what I’m hearing falls into two or three categories. First, a general desire for what I describe as a gut check. “Is it going to be OK?” The second thing we’re hearing is, “What should we be doing now? Should I change my plans?” And my advice generally is to stick with the plans you had before. And then, obviously, they’re always curious about how TIAA-CREF is doing. “How have you managed to avoid some of the pitfalls that others fell into?” That sort of [thing] really is the three categories of questions I get.
