Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, will retire on March 31, confirmed Chad Peterson, a spokesman for the company, in an email.
The board will seek a replacement with the help of an executive search firm. Both internal and external candidates will be considered.
Mr. Ferguson said in a news release Tuesday that he is “absolutely convinced — and the board agrees — that now is the time to select the next CEO who can continue, enhance and drive our strategy for the next decade and beyond.” He added: “It’s the responsible thing to do for this great company.”
Mr. Ferguson joined TIAA as president and CEO in 2008. During his tenure at TIAA, he oversaw the organization’s $6.25 billion acquisition of money manager Nuveen and $2.5 billion purchase of EverBank (now TIAA Bank). Under his leadership, TIAA’s assets under management more than doubled to $1.2 trillion.
A prominent Black leader in the money management industry, Mr. Ferguson shepherded the launch of TIAA’s Business Resource Groups, which “connect diverse employees for talent development, networking and community outreach and philanthropy.” He also advocated for expanding access to financial planning resources, pushed boards to be more diverse and published works detailing how systemic racism impacts the economy, health and education.
Before joining TIAA, Mr. Ferguson was vice chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1999 to 2006. Political analysts are currently speculating that he is being considered for Secretary of the Treasury for President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet.
