Responsible investing at TIAA
Invest like the future is watching
Responsible investing (RI) is an approach that integrates financially material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, alongside traditional financial criteria, into the investment process.
Responsible investing in action
At TIAA and Nuveen, responsible investing seeks to drive better outcomes for investors and, when consistent with client and product mandates, improve social and environmental capital. We believe this philosophy and our approach can contribute to managing risks and opportunities in our investments and to creating long-term, sustainable value.
Environmental
A responsible investing factor dealing with climate impact, energy consumption, biodiversity, waste management and natural resource use.
Social
A responsible investing factor dealing with employee engagement and development, labor relations, human rights practice, product safety and consumer protection.
Governance
A responsible investing factor dealing with management structure, board accountability and independence, executive compensation, audits, and internal controls and shareholder rights.
Our history
Our history of responsible investing practices spans across over five decades, as we began engaging with companies on social issues in the 1970s and launched one of the industry’s first dedicated RI products in 1990. Investment management activities, including stewardship and the development of RI products, were originally housed within TIAA and later shifted under the Nuveen brand. This history provides Nuveen with a strong foundation on which we continue to build out our RI program across asset classes. We are proud of the role we have played for decades and of our history of achieving beneficial outcomes related to responsible investing throughout the investment value chain. We remain committed to investing responsibly on behalf of our clients and continuously improving the ways in which we serve their best interests.1
Read our latest responsible investing reports
To achieve our climate goals, including our goals to reach Net Zero carbon emissions across different portions of our business, we’re focusing on efficient operations, portfolio repositioning, and engagement with companies around the globe. Our climate report provide updates on these targets and how we’ll continue to deliver for this generation and those to come.
Our stewardship approach focuses on promoting resiliency in the face of disruption. Through our transparency, accountability, and impact framework, we've conducted over 600 engagements with more than 450 companies last year while voting at thousands of shareholder meetings with our clients' best interests at heart. As your resilient partner in responsible investing today, tomorrow, and in the future, we're working to create long-term shareholder value.
View our suite of product & asset class impact reports
Take action
Explore our responsible investing products for your portfolio
Whether you’re contributing to a workplace retirement plan or investing on your own, we can help you create a portfolio that addresses your financial needs and can help drive real world impact.
We’re here to help
Give us a call at (800-842-2252), weekdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, or schedule an appointment.
1 Nuveen's responsible investing team activities date back to 1990 at TIAA prior to TIAA’s acquisition of Nuveen in 2014. TIAA and CREF boards began responsible investing initiatives in 1970 with proxy voting to deal with shareholder proposals on social issues. Statements regarding Nuveen’s history include TIAA’s history.
Responsible investing incorporates Environmental Social Governance (ESG) factors that may affect exposure to issuers, sectors and industries, limiting the type and number of investment opportunities available, which could result in excluding investments that perform well.
ESG integration is the consideration of financially material ESG factors within the investment decision making process. Financial materiality and applicability of ESG factors varies by asset class and investment strategy. ESG factors may be among many factors considered in evaluating an investment decision, and unless otherwise stated in the relevant offering memorandum or prospectus, do not alter the investment guidelines, strategy, or objectives. Select investment strategies do not integrate such ESG factors in the investment decision making process.
This material is for informational or educational purposes only and is not fiduciary investment advice, or a securities, investment strategy, or insurance product recommendation. This material does not consider an individual’s own objectives or circumstances which should be the basis of any investment decision.