Arizona State Retirement System Chooses TIAA-CREF for New Supplemental Voluntary Retirement Plan

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March 14, 2010 Sunday

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Arizona State Retirement System Chooses TIAA-CREF for New Supplemental Voluntary Retirement Plan

TIAA-CREF announced it has been selected by the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) as the single provider for its 403(b) and 457(b) supplemental voluntary retirement plans.

The new statewide supplemental voluntary retirement plan will be available to 179,000 eligible employees among 600 employers in the state's public school districts, community colleges, and local governments and agencies. This new plan complements the state's existing defined benefit plan.

"TIAA-CREF's ability to provide a plan tailored to the needs of our public school teachers and administrators and our local government employees was instrumental in our decision," said Paul Matson, Executive Director, Arizona State Retirement System. "We are especially pleased that, through the pooling of assets across the employers and participants that utilize the plan and the professional oversight of the ASRS, we can bring employees a professionally managed, low-cost, retirement saving option that can help the career school teacher to potentially achieve additional accumulations and retirement income compared to other commonly available defined contribution plans."

"We are delivering what ASRS wants: low-cost investment products, competitive long-term investment performance, a wide array of investment options from TIAA-CREF and other investment providers, and objective non-commissioned1 advice for its participants," said Bert Scott, Chief Institutional Development & Sales Officer, TIAA-CREF. "This statewide offering creates an opportunity for plan sponsors and employees to benefit from economies of scale not generally available to smaller retirement plan sponsors, resulting in reduced costs that may lead to additional income for employees in retirement."

Employees will gain access to objective investment advice and education from both local TIAA-CREF Individual Consultants and telephone-based Consultants familiar with the plan offerings to help them best meet their long-term financial needs. Working with TIAA-CREF, the Arizona State Retirement System will also have access to the TIAA-CREF's Compliance Coordinator service, which provides plan sponsors a cost-effective, proactive approach to compliance with 403(b) regulations.

TIAA-CREF provides investment products and services across the non-profit sector, including the K-12 and government sectors.

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March 14, 2010

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