TIAA-Cref, Vanguard info combined into 1 website
Pitt retirement funds invested in Vanguard and TIAA-CREF soon will be available for checking, and shifting, via a single website administered by TIAA-CREF.
The change is set for Feb. 9, said John Kozar, assistant vice chancellor for Human Resources. It will put both University retirement savings program options for the first time “under the same roof, which allows TIAA-CREF to manage the TIAA-CREF options and the Vanguard options,” he said.
“You can still invest as you do today,” Kozar assured, in either or both funds. However, “there’ll be one consolidated financial statement.”
In a letter to staff and faculty, Associate Vice Chancellor Ronald W. Frisch said: “By consolidating the TIAA-CREF and Vanguard investment lineups and administering all the investment options on a single recordkeeping platform, many of our retirement savings plan participants will enjoy a lower fee structure for a number of our existing funds, as well as increased efficiencies in managing their retirement savings plan account.”
The arrangement was a Pitt initiative to which Vanguard agreed, Kozar explained.
The new website still will display investments in their existing categories. But the new retirement-funds management will have several advantages, Kozar said. For instance, those who wish to move money currently from TIAA-CREF to Vanguard or vice versa need to do a rollover procedure in several steps, using several forms. As of Feb. 9, he said, “a few clicks of your mouse and you can move money back and forth.
“Vanguard will still have a presence on campus,” he noted, in their office in Human Resources. “They’re still our partner, but the counseling — the wealth management and field counseling with financial advisers — will all be done through TIAA-CREF.” Their investment advice concerning asset allocation to specific mutual funds and annuities will continue to be provided by an independent, third-party agency, Ibbotson Associates.
Human Resources will offer webinars and in-person sessions for those with questions about the retirement savings changes beginning in January. Dates for the seminars, as well as more information on additional investment options through TIAA-CREF, will be sent to Pitt employees in January.
—Marty Levine