TIAA, Nuveen Reach 1,000-Employer Milestone with Lifetime Income TDFs
TIAA and Nuveen announced today that it has reached a milestone of 1,000 employers across corporate, education, government, and healthcare sectors that are now offering their lifetime income target-date solutions.
The announcement comes on the heels of Sway Research releasing a report today finding that assets in lifetime income target-date strategies surged 39% in 2025, and that report puts TIAA and Nuveen at the top of the leaderboard with nearly three times as much AUM as their next competitor. TIAA and Nuveen currently have $75 billion in AUM in these solutions (as of February 2026.)
The release from TIAA and Nuveen said the 1,000-employer milestone signals a shift in how employers across a spectrum of industries increasingly recognize that guaranteed lifetime income is a highly desired worker benefit and view a target-date structure as an accessible and low-cost way to provide employees with these benefits in retirement.
“TIAA first offered annuity-embedded target-date solutions well over a decade ago because guaranteed lifetime income is key to retirement security and we wanted to offer it in the most efficient way for employers to implement and employees to access,” said Kourtney Gibson, CEO of TIAA Retirement Solutions. “We have developed multiple solutions that can replicate that feeling of security prior generations had—at no cost or balance sheet risk to the employer.”
TIAA and Nuveen’s suite of lifetime income target-date solutions include TIAA RetirePlus for TIAA’s non-profit institutional recordkeeping clients and Nuveen Lifecycle Income CIT Series (NLI) for all eligible plan types, including 401(k) on both TIAA’s platform and third-party platforms (The trustee for the NLI CIT series is SEI Trust Company.) TIAA has also partnered with third parties to make TIAA lifetime income available within their target-date solutions.
“This represents the most significant transformation in retirement plan design in a generation, and TIAA and Nuveen are leading it.”
Brendan McCarthy, Head of Retirement Investing at Nuveen
Both RetirePlus and NLI are next-generation qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs) that combine a familiar target-date-structure with the option for guaranteed lifetime income that never runs out.
Together, TIAA and Nuveen’s lifetime income target-date solutions offer guaranteed retirement income to over one million American workers. More than 65 consulting firms recommend the solutions to their clients, with many placing “buy” ratings based on the value proposition for employees.
“What started as an innovation for TIAA’s core nonprofit clients is becoming the standard for all retirement plans. Reaching 1,000 institutions confirms that this wasn’t just the right approach for nonprofits, it’s the right approach for all American workers,” said Brendan McCarthy, Head of Retirement Investing at Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA. “This represents the most significant transformation in retirement plan design in a generation, and TIAA and Nuveen are leading it.”
Improved retirement outcomes
Research conducted by consulting firm Charles River Associates, which examined 49 years of historical data from 1973 to 2021, showed that including TIAA’s flagship fixed annuity as a bond substitute in a target-date solution’s glidepath led to improved retirement outcomes in over 90% of scenarios analyzed.
TIAA said it is able to deliver these outcomes because of its unique structure which shares profits with its participants. TIAA has paid more total lifetime income benefits than it has guaranteed every year since 1949.
TIAA is one of only three insurance groups in the U.S. to hold the highest currently offered ratings from all four leading independent rating agencies.
“As we continue to expand access to guaranteed lifetime income through these innovative solutions, we are not just transforming retirement plans, we are beginning to bring back the promise of a more secure retirement that defined previous generations,” Gibson said.
“The best retirement products share two qualities: they are simple to understand and inexpensive to own. Target-date solutions with embedded lifetime income options check both boxes,” added Colbert Narcisse, Chief Product Officer at TIAA. “No complexity, no hidden costs, just guaranteed results.”
SEE ALSO:
• 21% Rise in 2025 Tip Target Date Assets Past $5 Trillion Mark
• Vanguard, TIAA Team Up to Launch Target-Date CIT with Built-In Annuity
• Coming to Transamerica: Nuveen TDFs with TIAA Lifetime Income
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.