Thiight the town hall was filled with energy and engagement. Wonderful to see. It’s obvious how much the executive team prioritizes us employees. The town halls are always so engaging. I commend them. Love our benefits too.
23 replies (most recent on top)
Could’ve been an email. How much do these meetings cost the company in labor hours?
🤣😂🤣 .. pathetic
@16t It doesn't surprise us that the new regime doesn't have a clue. As rates come down and the AI market continues to heat up, along with the TRUMP administration recent opinions about the advocacy and the use of private equity in retirement plans, then things should start heating up again. I'd only be in favor of funds that were independently audited each year and the funds had full and complete liquidity with no limits on the timing of redemptions. Anything other than those provisions causes me pause and fear that the private equity fund is just another elaborate "Ponzi Scheme."
@15d not at all. Private equity is volatile. Returns have been muted over the past 4 years and the SPX has handily beat mid mkt LBO private equity. The TIAA program was put in place years before the current regime was put in place. They have no idea what they are doing or what true asset allocation is. They just take a few pieces of what’s in the headlines and repeat but have no fundamental understanding of true institutional investment management.
@14y i'm sure you are gonna tell us next that private equity doubled S&P 500 returns at 1/2 the volatility in the past 20 years and the Brown Duckett, the ELC, and this Board the past 5 yrs have all genius.
@14s clearly smarter than me as I allocate capital to private equity managers (and other strategies) for almost 2 decades. Then again, I worked for TIAA at one point so go figure!
@127 Here is a response that is smarter than any of us from ChatGPT so it must be "accurate."
Yes, private equity is often described as opaque due to a lack of transparency in its operations, making it difficult for investors and the public to assess performance, fees, and underlying holdings. This opacity stems from structural issues, the private nature of the assets, and a lack of public disclosure requirements compared to public markets. This secrecy can hinder risk assessment, make it hard to verify performance, and raises concerns about accountability and potential misconduct.
Reasons for private equity's opacity
Lack of public disclosureUnlike publicly traded companies, private equity firms are not subject to the same reporting standards, making it hard to get reliable information about their finances and operations.
Complex fee structures: Compensation models and fee calculations can make it difficult for investors to understand the net-of-fees performance and track where the money is going.
Limited access to data: Investors often don't have access to detailed information on the underlying portfolio companies, forcing them to rely on the fund's own reports for performance metrics.
Illiquidity:The inability for investors to easily exit their investments compounds the problem, as there is little opportunity for public scrutiny of asset pricing and performance through secondary markets.
Structural issues: Compensation structures can create a mis-alignment of risk between the fund managers and the investors, with a lack of transparency making it hard to identify and address this.
Potential consequences of opacity
Difficulty assessing risk: It's hard to get an accurate picture of the leverage and risk within the private equity system because there is a lack of information on who is making loans and on what terms, say The Atlantic.
Misleading performance reporting: Firms may use accounting loopholes, like marking up discounted secondary fund stakes, to artificially inflate their paper gains, say The Motley Fool and LinkedIn.
Concerns about accountability: The secrecy can make it difficult to ensure the industry is committed to sustainable or responsible business practices, say Global Financial Integrity and Private Equity Stakeholder Project PESP.
@127 oof — it’s really sad when employees are coming to a layoff site to be educated re: tiaa structure and investments. ITS A LAYOFF SITE PEOPLE!!
@11a your statement is somewhat misleading. Yes, PE investments are illiquid given that a vast majority of TIAA’s PE exposure is in fund vehicles, which by nature are locked up and rely on M&A activity (sales) for investors in said vehicles to realize cash (income). The M&A markets have been very inactive, relative to historical trends (higher interest rate environment = lower valuations). That said, PE investments (both funds and underlying companies) are valued at least annually, if not quarterly, so your statement about their values being opaque is just wrong.
Not disagreeing with that directionality of your sentiment BUT just wanted to clarify some things as this is also a place to learn and unfortunately is also rife with misinformation.
@nk Time to sell and get rid of Nuveen ! It is an 800 lb gorilla around Tiaa's neck. If Larry Fink and Blackrock were in charge, the company would be in much better shape but we have the constant under performer Nuveen. Nuveen must be Catholic because if you reshuffle Nuveen it spells: NUNEVE. (Eve as in Adam & Eve is a nun)
@nk alot of the write downs are due to the failure of some of the private equity investments with many being illiquid and hard to value as they are so speculative and opaque. Not a good look for TIAA at all. Brown Duckett is running the company into the ground.
Bwaahahaha — TIAA so desperate they paid their job eliminating robotics team put ridiculous comments on a LAYOFF site. Lame.
@md there was already a $750 million write down earlier in the year for ONE real estate investment and TIAA was pushing close to $2 billion in TOTAL write downs earlier in the year.
All taking a bite out of surplus capital, in addition to TIAA paying off surplus notes to keep the rating agencies at bay. This is why this place is trying to squeeze every cent out of everyone and everything.
@jw apparently there are substantial bond and real estate portfolio impairments which may cost TIAA/Nuveen to write down $200M and that takes a direct hit to the surplus so the bleeding now has an open wound. I think in 12-18 months you will see some big changes at the top
@dy no, it’s correct info. Two people in my group were affected.
@dj I can envision more layoffs in NYC. NY office costs more than Denver’s.m lease did… can easily save money there. Amazon just unloaded a bunch. TIAA is gonna try to get them to move to Frisco or lay them off just like Denver.
No real reason to be in NY anymore when they planted that building at the star down there in Y’all Street.
@dj not correct information, just rumor.
@dh yep. More layoffs in NYC yesterday, and I’m sure other offices as well.
I will give T props for being more visible this year.
Previous years we only ever saw her during her annual town hall at the beginning of the year.
However, that doesn’t make up for the bs the EC spews. They talk about how great the company is doing yet nothing ever trickles down to employees.
No raises and more layoffs.
@cc the negativity stems from the fact that the EC and leadership L3 and above is arrogant, lacks accountability and continues to realize salary increases while the vast majority of associates haven’t received even a COLA going on three years in a row. Don’t know if you have noticed but everyday costs have increased exponentially over the past few years while incomes haven’t. At the end of the day, we all just want to get paid. Full stop. The K shape economy is real, even at TIAA.
I don’t understand the negativity here. TIAA pays us a salary, contributes a 3% match to our 401k, funds the retirement/pension plan 100% for us, has terrific medical benefits, etc. I think those that speak negatively need to think differently.
@OP I didn't think they were serving grape koolaid at the event, but I guess you found it.
@OP either some HR troll or Temu plant. High energy? 🤡💩
Dude…either you went to the town hall really, really high/drunk, or you need some Ritalin/Adderall.
P.S. You got some brown stuff all over your face, mostly on your nose. 🤢🤮