TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds Added to Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge Platforms

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 -- TIAA-CREF issued the following news release:

TIAA-CREF, a leading financial services organization, today announced that 20 mutual funds from its award-winning lineup are now available through the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Merrill Edge platforms.

"We are focused on supporting our client's lifelong financial well-being through a research-based, disciplined and goals-based approach to investing," said John Panagakis, head of Asset Management Business Development at TIAA-CREF. "Merrill Lynch shares this mission, and we are delighted to work with its wealth management professionals and clients."

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management advisors now have access to 20 of TIAA-CREF mutual funds. The funds also are available to mass affluent retail investors through the Merrill Edge platform. The available funds cover a breadth of styles across stocks and bonds, as well as a fund that incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

TIAA-CREF mutual funds are built on more than 90 years of organizational investment experience and a focus on helping clients achieve lifelong financial wellbeing. The funds, which have some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry [1], include equity, fixed income, target-date and multi-asset class funds - a comprehensive set of building blocks for individual and institutional portfolios. As of September 30, 2013, 56 percent of the company's mutual funds have an overall Morningstar rating of four or five stars across all asset classes based on risk-adjusted performance (16 percent rated five stars, 40 percent rated four stars).[2]

The organization has received several recent industry accolades for its investment performance. Lipper named TIAA-CREF as the 2013 Best Overall Large Fund Company based on three-year risk-adjusted performance. The company was one of 36 large investment firms eligible for the award.[3] In addition, TIAA-CREF was ranked 10th out of 62 mutual fund families in the 2012 Barron's/Lipper fund family ranking, based on asset-weighted performance.[4]

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[1] Based on Morningstar data, the expense ratio on all mutual fund products and variable annuity accounts managed by TIAA-CREF is generally less than half the mutual fund industry average (70 percent are less than half their respective Morningstar Universe average and 60 percent are less than half their respective Morningstar Universe median, Morningstar Direct, Sept. 30, 2013).

[2] As of September 30, 2013, 16 percent rated five stars and 40 percent rated four stars. The Morningstar ratings include Retail, Retirement, Premier and Institutional fund share classes; CREF Accounts and the Life Funds. Morningstar is an independent service that rates mutual funds and variable annuities. The top 10 percent of accounts in an investment category receive five stars, the next 22.5 percent receive four stars, and the next 35 percent receive three stars. Morningstar proprietary ratings reflect historical risk-adjusted performance and can change every month. They are calculated from the account's three-, five- and 10-year average annual returns in excess of 90-day Treasury bill returns with appropriate fee adjustments, and a risk factor that reflects mutual fund/subaccount performance below 90-day T-bill returns. The overall star ratings are Morningstar's published ratings, which are weighted averages of its three-, five- and 10-year ratings for periods ended Sept. 30, 2013. For current performance and rankings, please visit https://www.tiaa-cref.org/public/tcfpi/InvestResearch.

[3] In calculating the awards, Lipper considered funds registered for sale in the United States with at least 36 months of performance as of the end of the calendar year of the respective evaluation year. Fund groups with at least five equity, five bond, or three mixed-asset portfolios were eligible for an overall group award. The award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years' Consistent Return measure of the eligible funds over the three-year period ended Nov. 30, 2012. TIAA-CREF was ranked among 36 fund companies.

[4] The Barron's/Lipper Fund Family survey uses an asset-weighted ranking system. Each fund's return was measured against those in its Lipper category, and the resulting percentile ranking was then weighted by asset size relative to the fund family's other assets in its general category. The family's overall ranking was then determined by weighting the five fund categories in proportion to their overall importance within Lipper's fund universe. In 2012, TIAA-CREF is ranked 10th of 62 for the one-year, 29th of 53 for the five-year and does not qualify for the 10-year ranking.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Investment, insurance and annuity products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, are not deposits, are not insured by any federal government agency, are not a condition to any banking service or activity, and may lose value.

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