What TIAA Chief Roger Ferguson Is Reading and Listening To
May 7, 2019 by Leslie P. Norton
Roger Ferguson, chairman and CEO of the $1 trillion retirement company TIAA, is a trained economist and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. And when Barron’s sat down to talk with him in his midtown Manhattan office, the wide-ranging conversation simply couldn’t be limited to just one Q&A. We chatted about the firm’s effort to streamline its advice efforts, the problem with corporate boards, and what Ferguson is reading now. An edited transcript follows.
Barron’s: When we spoke two years ago, the challenge for Nuveen (TIAA’s asset management arm) was to get out to financial advisors in a more efficient way, with fewer visits, and using more data and analytics.
Ferguson: That’s playing out well. The fact that on an organic basis we’re one of the few getting positive flows tells us the whole model is working. It helps that we have good performance. It helps that we are focused in on areas that really matter, including ESG and responsible investing, including income solutions. It helps, frankly, that a fair amount of what we do is in municipal bonds, which in this low interest rate environment are still getting attractive flows. A well-underwritten muni is obviously a good fixed income product, tax-advantaged, with a little bit of a yield pickup. I don’t think we’re down to ‘one touch.’ But it’s working.
