Products March 10, 2008

TIAA-CREF Adds International Equity to Social Choice Annuity Account

TIAA-CREF, provider of retirement services in the academic, medical, and cultural fields, has announced the addition of international equity investments to its CREF Social Choice variable annuity account.
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In conjunction with the change in portfolio composition, the account’s composite benchmark will change to include the MSCI EAFE + Canada, alongside the Russell 3000 and Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate indexes, the announcement said. Inclusion of non-domestic companies in the CREF Social Choice Account will offer investors looking for global investment opportunities that align with their values a socially screened investment vehicle.

Under the new benchmark, the account will expand the universe of stocks in which it can invest beyond those in the KLD Broad Market Social Index (BMSI) to also include the recently launched KLD Global Sustainability Index Ex-US (GSIXUS). The research process evaluates a company’s sustainability performance by analyzing its relative strength in environmental stewardship; serving local communities and society overall; commitment to high labor standards throughout the supply chain; production of safe, high-quality products; and governance and ethics.

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With approximately $9.2 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2007, CREF Social Choice is the largest socially screened portfolio in the United States and the largest socially-screened global portfolio with over 430,000 individual investors, the company asserted. The account is a balanced portfolio with an overall target asset allocation of 60% equity securities and 40% fixed income securities, including a 2% target for proactive social and community investments within the fixed-income portfolio.

The new international equity investments, which are expected to be added gradually throughout March 2008, will total approximately 13% of the account’s total assets.

The CREF Social Choice Account is available to investors through TIAA-CREF’s employer-sponsored retirement plans or through TIAA-CREF IRAs and variable life policies.

Compliance March 10, 2008

Court Approves Settlement of New York Life Self-Dealing Case

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has approved a $14 million settlement of a nine-year legal battle over allegations New York Life Insurance Co. improperly directed employees’ and agents’ retirement savings into its proprietary mutual funds.
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U.S. District Judge Bruce W. Kauffman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved the settlement deal between the company and employees and agents who were in the New York Life defined benefit and 401(k) programs. According to Kauffman’s order, $9.8 million plus interest will be distributed to 401(k) participants who had an account between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 2005. The remaining $4.2 million plus interest, less attorneys’ fees and costs, will be allocated between the Employee Pension Plan and the Agent Pension Plans.

Kauffman said the payments to the pension plans will not be distributed to individual participants but “will be used to strengthen the funding of (the) pension plans.”

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The settlement ends a 1999 lawsuit filed by current and former employees and agents who accused the company of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary breach. The plaintiffs charged that New York Life transferred pension and 401(k) assets from separately managed accounts to the company’s Mainstay Institutional Mutual Funds because the expense to the plans of using mutual fund management was far greater than the expense of hiring individual account managers.

The plaintiffs also accused New York Life of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

In his most recent ruling, Kauffman asserted that the settlement was appropriate because the plaintiffs could face “serious legal challenges” if the case were litigated. For example, Kauffmann pointed out, New York Life could have argued at trial that using mutual funds in a 401(k) plan was a common practice – a defense Kauffman said could have “limited or negated” recovery by the plaintiffs.

In addition, the court noted that the plaintiffs had estimated that the full amount of excessive fees the plans paid during the period from 1994 to 2005 was $70 million, making the $14-million settlement approximately 20% of the “best possible” recovery if all theories of liability were accepted by the court. The court noted that this 20% of “best possible” recovery was comparable to other class settlements approved in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The ruling in Mehling v. New York Life Insurance Co., E.D. Pa., No. 99-5417, 3/4/08, is here.

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