Following a comprehensive review of Cornell’s retirement plans by an independent advisory firm, CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, Cornell has restructured and expanded its TIAA-CREF and Fidelity retirement fund options. Booklets describing these changes have been sent to all endowed faculty and staff and to all contract college faculty and staff who contribute to a TIAA-CREF or Fidelity tax-deferred annuity (TDA) plan.

Learn more at informational workshops

Fidelity and TIAA-CREF will offer the following workshops on the new retirement options:

Fidelity

Sept. 23, noon-1 p.m., James Law Auditorium, Schurman Hall   

Oct. 2, 2:30-3:30 p.m., G10 Biotechnology Building  

TIAA-CREF

Sept. 24, 9-10 a.m., G10 Biotechnology Building  

Oct. 16, 1:30-2:30 p.m., G10 Biotechnology Building

Employees who are satisfied with their current TIAA-CREF or Fidelity investments need do nothing. But, as of Oct. 1, Cornell’s TIAA-CREF and Fidelity funds, along with select low-cost investments, will be placed in four tiers: Tiers 1 (lifestyle funds) and 2 (core funds), which Cornell will monitor with the investment analysis of CAPTRUST and which contain funds the university deems “best in class”; Tiers 3 (noncore funds) and 4 (self-directed funds) provide many more options for investment, but their funds did not make the “best in class” list nor are they monitored by Cornell.

Best-in-class funds will be monitored through a Retirement Plan Oversight Committee of Cornell faculty and staff, working with CAPTRUST.

“We are proud to offer an array of investment choices that can be tailored to the varying needs, investment experience and personal circumstances of our staff and faculty,” said Paul Bursic, senior director of Benefit Services. “We wanted to give those who prefer to self-direct their investments that opportunity, while providing guidance to those less involved in investment strategies.”

Beginning Oct. 1 and anytime thereafter, employees can opt to invest in any mix of funds in any or all of the four tiers:

• Suppose you don’t want to change anything; you like what you have. If you do nothing to change your current investment elections, they will remain the same.
• Suppose you want to invest in best-in-class funds, and then not have to think about your investments. If you are in or pick TIAA-CREF or Fidelity’s Tier 1 lifecycle funds, your investments within those funds automatically will be adjusted for you as your expected date of retirement gets closer.
• Suppose you are somewhat active in your investments and are open to switching some of your current funds to similar ones if that means switching to a best-in-class fund. The retirement materials indicate which tiers your funds are in. If you have any holdings in Tier 3, you can keep as many of them as you like and monitor them yourself or move some or all of your Tier 3 investments to best-in-class funds in Tier 1 or 2.
• Suppose you enjoy taking an active role in your portfolio management. Tier 4, a self-directed brokerage account, allows you to invest in any of about 3,000 funds not monitored by Cornell.

“We have provided the self-directed option because of many requests, especially from some of our business and finance experts, to offer as wide a range of investment options as possible, giving them maximum flexibility in investing,” said Bursic.

Administrative fees charged by fund managers vary. “For those funds that we monitor, we have negotiated the lowest possible fees,” said Mary Zielinski, associate director of Benefit Services. “If you choose non-monitored funds, youcan be charged fees at the retail rate.”

“We strongly encourage faculty and staff members to talk with a Fidelity and/or TIAA-CREF representative when making any investment changes,” Zielinski said. “They can guide you through fund changes you would like to make, ensuring that your portfolio of investments is correctly diversified and balanced.”

New endowed faculty and staff who don’t designate how their funds are to be directed will be invested in lifecycle funds – half in TIAA-CREF and half in Fidelity.