PROVIDENCE, R.I. — General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo today announced that the State Investment Commission unanimously voted to select TIAA-CREF as the vendor to administer Rhode Island's new defined contribution program. TIAA-CREF was chosen after final presentations were made to the State Investment Commission earlier today.
"After evaluating the two finalists in the core areas defined in the RFP, I am confident that TIAA-CREF offers the best options, fees and level of service for Rhode Island," Raimondo said. "Treasury looks forward to working with TIAA-CREF as we begin the process of implementing this new and important program for many of Rhode Island's public employees."
TIAA-CREF plans to open a Rhode Island office with dedicated staff to provide support, education and customer service to defined contribution plan members.
The defined contribution program will be a core part of each participating employee's retirement plan and is intended to provide a secure source of retirement benefits, in addition to their pension benefit. It is estimated that the plan will initially cover approximately 30,000 government employees and that annual contributions will be in the range of $100 million to $150 million.
"Our goal was to choose a provider whose priorities are low-cost and secure investment products, along with robust and dependable customer service," Raimondo said. "We have accomplished that with the selection of TIAA-CREF."
In the coming months, Rhode Island will develop and launch this new program as mandated in the recently passed Rhode Island Retirement Security Act. The new program will take effect on July 1, 2012.