Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association Named for the Sixth Consecutive Year as One of 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 -- The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association issued the following news release:

TIAA, a leading financial services provider, announced its sixth consecutive annual recognition as one of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

"Recognition as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies(R) for the sixth consecutive year reflects our foundational belief in doing the right thing," said David Nason, chief risk and compliance officer of TIAA. "Our employees strive to maintain the highest ethical standards as we deliver on our mission to create lifelong financial security for our participants."

"TIAA has a deep-rooted commitment to operating in an ethical way," said Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO of TIAA. "This commitment not only makes TIAA a great place to work, but it also helps deliver long-term, sustainable success for our business and our customers."

"Congratulations to everyone at TIAA for earning this recognition," said Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "This is a moment to acknowledge the leaders working to advance corporate cultures defined by integrity and affirm those companies contributing to broader societal imperatives and the greater good."

This year, 132 honorees were recognized spanning 21 countries and 51 industries, and TIAA was one of five financial services companies that received the recognition.

The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient (R) (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), governance (15 percent) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10 percent). All companies that participate in the assessment process receive their scores, providing them with valuable insights into how they stack up against leading organizations.

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About TIAA

With an award-winning /1 track record for consistent investment performance, TIAA (TIAA.org) is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields. TIAA has $1 trillion in assets under management (as of 12/31/2019 /2) and offers a wide range of financial solutions, including investing, banking, advice and education, and retirement services.

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere(R) Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.

Footnotes:

1/ The Lipper Mixed-Assets Large Fund Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years' Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/15 (against 39 fund families), 11/30/16 (36), 11/30/17 (35) and 11/30/18 (35). Note this award pertains to mixed-assets mutual funds within the TIAA-CREF group of mutual funds; other funds distributed by Nuveen Securities were not included. From Thomson Reuters Lipper Awards, Copyright (c) 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content without express written permission is prohibited. Certain funds have fee waivers in effect. Without such waivers ratings could be lower. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For current performance, rankings and prospectuses, please visit the Research and Performance section on TIAA.org. The investment advisory services, strategies and expertise of TIAA Investments, a division of Nuveen, are provided by Teachers Advisors, LLC and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., and Nuveen Securities, LLC, Members FINRA and SIPC, distribute securities products.

2/ Based on $1.1 trillion of assets under management across Nuveen Investments affiliates and TIAA investment management teams as of 12/31/19.