@n4 I mean if a rap song and a dress made of money won’t get them what will
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I tend to think Rodger saw the writing on the wall and got off ship while getting was good. To late in the game on banking and an uncompelling wealth management offer, especially when compared to the competition. Additionally, TIAA was never successful at creating loyalty with college/university employees and retirees the way USAA did for military members, veterans and their families. Never came close. Now besides the current financial issues, TIAA's main market, colleges and universities are having their own issues. Declining enrollments due the demographic cliff and people starting to realize that going deeply in debt for that communications degree, just isn't worth it. So colleges will be reducing their headcounts which inturn shrinks the available pool of new participants. It's looking ugly folks.
So what a minute!? A custom rap song didn’t drive new participants to our door?!? You mean university staff, healthcare workers, and nonprofits weren’t swayed by the rap song…. I am speechless
Here are the 3 key takeaways (imo) from the Q2 financials:
- Recurring Capital Losses: Q2 operating income of ~$925M offset by ~$1.3B in realized capital losses equalling a net loss of ~$385M
- Liquidity Erosion: Cash and equivalents declined from $3.4B (YE 2024) to $1.4B (Q2 2025)
- Unrealized Losses in Securities: approx. $2.2B unrealized losses
While TIAA is well-capitalized and regulatory "safe", strategic stagnation continues to rear its ugly head here. The balance sheet shows recurring capital losses (almost $2bn in write-offs for bad investments YTD) and liquidity is tightening. TIAA FWRD (it's too much, too late business model) is outpaced by competitors’ cost structures, technology, and retail presence (i.e. Fidelity/VG/etc continue to erode market share).
I've said it quarter over quarter but the slow demise of this company continues to accelerate...
@ge We are adding a lot of low balance participants. Takes 3-5 yrs to break even on $5K balances. All the long tenured professors are retiring and taking their Traditional $$$ out. Gonna drain the surplus. Eventually…
We need more participants. But we really need more participants with more money.
Many of our participants have very few dollars in their retirement plans.
Maybe if we create a few more rap songs.
I’m concerned that the 4.7 million participants has stayed the same for quite a while…doesn’t look like we are growing
@ba ugh. If true. Definitely the beginning of the end of times if true.
That’s going to make everything worse company wide. From annual goals/reviews to even worse than they are now. MDs will have too many associates to care about their development plans or growth. A much larger wage gap between worker bees and managers with limited room to advance one’s career.
All that to save a few bucks? Sounds like we’re inching closer and closer to being acquired by Jamie Dimon. Queen T may not make the cut if that transition happens and these MDs will be replaced in house with worker bees being split in half or more.
@ba In what areas?
Word on the street is that the managing directors and one to two steps below are getting cut soon. And the worker bees will report directly to those MD bosses. No more buffer. That’s one way to save cost. But more of the worker bees. Queen T is slowly ki-ling TIAA.
@aa
Ugly news: TIAA will remain afloat somehow until we’re purchased by a better company. Until then beatings (these dreadful Finance email/town hall updates) will continue until morale improves.
Good News! Budget allows for continued dictator style motorcade and travel schedule for ET
Bad news: More layoffs for those who actually help generate revenue