Letters
To the editor:
In view of the University’s decision to give TIAA-CREF more responsibility in administering employees’ retirement funds, I think that the following information that appeared in the Feb. 12 issue of The Wall Street Journal will be of interest to them. TIAA-CREF is one of four funds that are most apt to agree with management regarding corporate compensation policies. This was based on an analysis done by As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy organization that is concerned with environmental and social issues. They found that, “Nonprofit TIAA-CREF, which manages $82.3 billion in mutual fund assets, voted with corporate management about 94 percent of the time.” To put this in perspective, American Funds … and funds at Charles Schwab Corp. supported management’s pay package just 60 percent of the time.
What is most troubling to me is the response that TIAA-CREF made when asked to comment on the results of the analysis, namely, that, “its investment results speak for themselves.” I view this as an arrogant and evasive response to an important issue. I would hope that University officials would consider this before giving TIAA-CREF any more business.
Michael Klausner
Associate Professor Sociology
Pitt-Bradford
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