We are hearing inside whispers that some on the board, executive committee, and rank and file are starting to lose confidence in "T" Brown Duckett. She came in 2021 on a DEI high with lots of fanfare to replace Roger Ferguson who was snake bit at the end by mounting scandals and lawsuits. Now, with outflows at record highs, massive over spend by the Frisco experiment, and mounting legal and PR challenges, some are contending that Duckett step aside so that a turnaround artist can take charge of the helmless sinking ship to right it's course. We are hearing decisions will be made in the next 18 months on a possible sea change of direction.
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@48e the TIAA Trad in the SIA isn’t the RA/GSRA version with 3% min, it’s the RC/RCP version with 1-3% min (current money gets 4.75 total, for now)
I guess I struggle to see the math- where we had 100% of assets in a target date fund as a default option where the fund’s assets were all managed by Nuveen making 0.35-0.69% from the expense ratio of the fund, now going to (using your example) 5% managed by Nuveen via tiaa traditional, which is managed at cost. This means we would need to expand our customer base significantly to just offset the flows out of the lifecycle from an Aug perspective, let alone the fee generation.
Honestly don’t see the math here- are you seeing it differently? What am I missing?
@481 if the TIAA SIA could become the stand alone QDIA default in plans, replace any money market fund, replace any fixed account, and become the managed account option, all earning a guaranteed 5% compound interest per year, with a minimum floor of 3%, I think over 50% of all plan participants would sign up for it. A winning fixed annuity with no downside risk is what the risk averse masses have been clammoring for. Could put TIAA back in the mix again and they could sell off Nuveen to Blackrock for $6B cash.
@483 unfortunately Nuveen has no say in the matter. Tiaa owns them outright and makes it known to leadership at every opportunity. Nuveen’s best bet at this point imho is for TIAA to take them public and Nuveen can get far far away from the tiaa chain around their neck.
@481 this poster knows what’s up!
For the last 15-20 years we lost a ton of assets in our proprietary Mutual funds to other companies. The vast majority of assets not in Traditional or CREF is non proprietary mutual funds and CITs, with most of that at Vanguard. Nuveen is loosing participants left and right to outside mutual funds and CITs.
We are cannibalizing Nuveen who should be the parent company/owner of TIAA not the other way around. If Nuveen decides to seceded from TIAA or someone else buys them up. TIAA will be done for good and there will be nothing left.
@3q7 I’ve heard the impairments are in the high hundreds of millions, and they may be trying to hide it by firing/outsourcing our entire real estate valuations group.
The net flows out are not a surprise- it is part of the incoherent ‘strategy’. To keep the record keeping contracts with universities, TIAA is cannibalizing Nuveen’s AUM by signing the recordkeeping deals without any Nuveen funds in the plans. Additionally, they are largely scrapping the tiaa target date and trying to replace it with TIAA SIA, which has a guaranteed amount in TIAA Traditional (general account assets) but with largely 3rd party funds.
Nuveen appears to be trying to combat this tiaa incentive misalignment by focusing on private credit and infrastructure (some U.S but largely arcmont) to get institutional assets in and not retail assets.
@3jk that Indian management class is there entirely for show, that’s why they’re inept. There are Indian tax and employment classification laws that essentially mandate/heavily incentivize this structure for foreign companies hiring a large number of Indians.
@46f he the token white guy on the EC, that’s all there is to know. He’s incompetent and there to be T’s ‘diversity’ ticket for the Midwest universitiesTiAA needs to keep on board.
@41j
I have no context about Nason, I’m under a different org. What’s the deal with him?
I pray the replacement isn’t Nason.
@3jk by having the project managers located almost exclusively in the US, it is mistake as it removes the leadership from the front line contractor/employee and with the time and culture differences, this is huge issue for accountability.
What is Accenture doing that FIS didn't do and why the shift away from FIS ? I mean, FIS suc-ks too, but most of those inept programmers were US based.
Both FIS and Accenture are laying off so it will just make the service times and the competency and productivity of people left called more into question.
I say get rid of the entire Board of Directors, ELC, and Brown Duckett. She really s-U-cKs
@3eq How much will the bond impairment amounts be and how much did they have to write down ? Also, has the New York Department of Financial Services ruled on their asset adequacy and if the ratio is too optimistic ? With the continued outflows and very few new revenue streams, TIAA will have no choice but to lay more people off and to farm out more to India and overseas.
It appears that TIAA is plagued by sycophantic and inept leadership, with the India GCC being the most problematic.
I visited last month and discovered that their purportedly robust leadership structure is entirely superficial; it is unclear what they actually lead, as none of the functions are managed from there. All project managers are based in the USA, and the local leaders seem to act merely as parasites on the developers' efforts. There are numerous layers of management, yet none of them provide any value beyond the Director level.
They have retained these ineffective individuals while trading away productive employees during the Accenture deal.
The executives, including the CEO, SMDs, MDs, SDs, Ds, and ADs, appear to lack any understanding of the work, yet they receive substantial salaries while draining resources from the hardworking individuals beneath them.
The BRG is the largest deception they perpetuate; they promote those who continuously assure them that their decisions are optimal. They bear no responsibility for any projects; why are we continuing to waste funds on their salaries?
You all think the 250M Frisco office was a big T mistake? Wait until the general account’s financial losses are published after year end. Look at the impairment losses.
@18v Not a Nobel Prize in Econ. A Nobel Prize in Bull S_HIT prose.
@18v it was ghost written by our fledgeling marketing team and whoever is left there
Thasunda has a by-line article in Fortune today. Titled "Time in the market is more powerful than timing the market". Stop the presses! Have they awarded the Nobel in Economics yet?
https://fortune.com/2025/10/22/tiaa-ceo-thasunda-brown-duckett-time-investing-in-market-risk-reaction/
@18j bring in Mitt Romney to right the ship
@172 Needs Private Equity, Demutualize, and Go Public.
@172
Bain Capital
Hoping for a turn around artist in 18 months is wishful thinking. It's not that T won't be replaced, the wishful thinking is the company can be turned around by anyone. The reality is the company needs a breakup team. Sell the parts that are still viable and close shop on the rest.
@131 It's all smoke, mirrors, and lies for T. Brown Duckett. Talks a good talk but have her help a client file a 5500 or complete plan audit and she's walk away flustered, complaining, and quitting. Welcome to my world and I don't even get paid $20M !
@tx hilarious
@yn agreed. She only talks about all the pointless marketing campaigns that she has started. None of which really improve the company. If they even attempt to fire her, the optics would look terrible, regardless of how warranted her firing would be.
She was not hired because of merit so she can't be fired for the lack of merit.
@vm TBD wasn’t hired to go on CNBC and talk about anything besides being a black woman. That’s the reason she was hired and if you notice it’s all she ever talks about. That and how minorities and women aren’t saving enough for retirement. That’s all the board cares about they won’t ever be able to “fire” her.
@tz She is a Narcissist -- Brown Duckett is. She'd make a great segment on American Greed on CNBC....
@ty hehehehe
@tz she is full of herself. All hype and no results. We need someone like Ed Murphy from Empower to lead us. At least he can go toe to toe on CNBC with Sara Eisen, David Faber, and Jim Cramer. Shoot, even EVEN Roger Ferguson appears more on CNBC with his thick coke bottle glasses than Thusanda Brown Duckett ever will.
Those who can, do; those who can't-don't appear on CNBC
@vj "why has Nuveen underperformed so much and getting it a-s-s whipped sawed by TIAA & Blackrock"
~~~did you mean ass whipped sawed by Vanguard & Blackrock ? LOL. It's ok. We all mistakes. Infact, Duckett gets paid $18M to make a $250M mistake. But, it's only the policyholder money and surplus and it doesn't really count and the board does't give a Rhats A~S~S
@OP By any objective measure, Glassdoor gives TIAA a 3.6 rating and Brown Duckett gets a rating of about 60% approval. The website Comparably rates TIAA a 3.5 and ranks Brown Duckett a 59/100 which is in the bottom 30%.
If the Board retains her, the questions are:
Is she worth $18M per year and has she demonstrated that her value is at least $18M per
have net outflows outpaced inflows and if so, by how much
Has the Surplus increased or decreased under her watch and by how much?
Why didn't she pursue a remote work from home policy recruiting the best from all over the US instead of spending $250M when it is all said and done moving to Frisco, TX ?
How many plans have left over the past 5 yrs versus being taken over and moving to us?
How has the public image of TIAA been positively impacted by all of the lawsuits?
why has Nuveen underperformed so much and getting it a-s-s whipped sawed by TIAA & Blackrock
Is employee moral and survey results better now or 5 yrs ago?
Are customers happier now or 5 yrs ago?*
There you have it. What do we all think about how "T" has done with her serving on 8 boards and hanging out more with the NY Liberty instead of with rank and file employees
I’m pretty sure she stacked the board - So I doubt the rumors. That said, I find her self promotion of her top 50 this-and-that lists kind of embarrassing. Those are not awards we seek. Have some self respect.
id--t
@sm that is offensive that you left off QI2S+ from the LGBTQ ! How dare you !
@tg amen sister solja
@OP I mean I got laid off in September in an absolutely atrocious business decision that is costing the company. I was a highly skilled client facing person in a small specialized department. They fired us all and outsourced it to a consulting firm. Will cost TIAA way way more and absolutely none of the clients were happy. Many were outright mad and really concerned for their plans. Whoever made that decision, and I know who they are, should have been fired immediately. But nope, they were willing to pay TIAAs struggles straight in the clients faces. One even asked for an explanation of what was going on and why were they laying people off. And these aren't small clients. I'm talking ivy league and then one who just at that moment was going to bid....$1b in assets at tiaa. Let's just say, this did not help our chances to retain that account.
@qk My post never said rumors cannot be facts...however, Frisco opening, Denver closing, T's contract up in 18 months are not rumors... there is not on the original post that is a rumor...Lol...it is or has happened!!
@pa we know Kourtney is already going in 27. So that's one less to worry about. The ECs contracts might align with Ts so this might not even be an issue.
Time for a LGBTQ CEO! The only box in the CEO office the Board hasn't checked at this point. Bring it! DEI for the win!
@pk lots of people said deep throat was lying about all the sch*t he told to Woodward & Bernstein and look what happened to Nixon. Just saying. Rumors can be fact.....
@k3 Lmao...Naw...just over the same rumor when facts are facts..and for the record, I am not impressed with the woman at all...just stating facts!