TIAA Swept Up in Infosys Breach

The data breach affected nearly 9,000 individuals at TIAA.

TIAA and TIAA Life, the life insurance arm of the retirement and investment provider, were swept up in a data breach that hit other providers, including T. Rowe Price and Vanguard, last year.

The breach reached 8,977 individuals in TIAA’s system, including 81 residents of Maine, according to a September 27 filing with the office of the Maine Attorney General. The breach was part of the hacking of Infosys McCamish Systems LLC, which occurred on October 29, 2023, and was discovered by the company just days later, on November 2, 2023.

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“Infosys McCamish Systems notified TIAA that some TIAA and TIAA Life retail customers (not institutional plan participants) were impacted during McCamish’s November 2023 cybersecurity incident,” a TIAA spokesperson wrote in an email to PLANADVISER. “There was no involvement whatsoever of TIAA’s systems or recordkeeping platform. We have alerted those affected customers and IMS has secured Kroll’s services to provide identity monitoring services at no cost to them. Data security remains a top priority at TIAA.”

TIAA’s inclusion in the data breach further emphasizes the ripple effect an attack on a third-party provider can have. In 2023, a breach at data vendor MOVEit, owned by Progress Software Corp., exposed the data of some of the country’s largest recordkeepers, as well as university and state-run pension programs.

In last year’s breach, Infosys suffered hacking that impacted T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services and several other vendor clients, according to a notification filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General on September 11, amending a June 27 filing.

The TIAA breach notification, submitted by Lou Senay, managing director of supervisory affairs at TIAA, to Maine’s attorney general, outlined that sensitive personal information such as names and other personal identifiers had been compromised. Although the full scope of the compromised data was not detailed, it was confirmed that the breach involved a system hack, heightening concerns over the protection of financial and personal information.

TIAA has notified those affected and is offering protection services to help safeguard against identity theft and other potential misuse of the breached information. For now, the breach affected fewer than 1,000 residents of Maine, so consumer reporting agencies have not been alerted.

Cheri Belski Joins LPL Financial as Head of Investment Solutions

The former head of product at T. Rowe Price will lead all major investment initiatives.

LPL Financial LLC has appointed Cheri Belski as executive vice president and head of investment management solutions. Belski, with more than 25 years of experience, will lead major investment initiatives, including LPL Research, investment products, advisory platforms and the firm’s retirement partners business.

Belski previously served as global head of product at T. Rowe Price, where she directed the firm’s product development strategy, particularly in private markets. At LPL, she will focus on driving strategic goals and enhancing product differentiation to support the firm’s more than 23,000 advisers and almost 1,000 institutions.

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“We are thrilled to welcome Cheri to LPL,” Aneri Jambusaria, managing director of business and wealth solutions at LPL, said in a statement. “Her extensive experience and diverse background—spanning sales, product, client service, distribution and operations—make her the ideal leader to continue to evolve LPL’s investment solutions and innovative services that help advisers meet the increasingly diverse and sophisticated needs of advisers and their clients.”

Jambusaria added that Belski will oversee the growth of LPL’s model wealth portfolios, the introduction of 50 new alternative investment products by the end of 2025 and the continued development of the firm’s offerings.

Belski, who will be based in LPL’s Fort Mill, South Carolina, office, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Latin American studies from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in international business from Johns Hopkins University.

During the firm’s recent Focus 2024 event, LPL leaders introduced new products that will fall under Belski’s leadership. These include expanded access to low-volatility managers and strategies, with LPL now offering eight of the top largest exchange-traded-fund providers with no transaction fees. LPL Research also launched coverage of active ETFs to help advisers choose managers across different market environments.

Additionally, LPL announced 200 new separately managed accounts for its MWP platform, including 25 new fixed-income options, providing advisers with more customizable and cost-effective investment choices.

LPL continues to expand its alternative investment options, adding 12 new strategies such as hedge funds, drawdown, evergreen and tax deferral strategies, with plans to introduce 50 more by the end of 2025.

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