Plan administrator's income fund aimed at investors on verge of retirement. TIAA-CREF has launched the Lifecycle Retirement Income Fund, a diversified mutual fund that seeks high total return over time primarily through income, with a secondary emphasis on capital appreciation.

New York-based TIAA-CREF is a retirement-plan administrator for educational, religious, and charitable organizations.

Its new lifecycle fund is aimed at investors who are nearing retirement and looking to roll over assets to an IRA from another tax-advantaged retirement plans like 403(b)s or 401(k)s, and at investors who already in retired and looking for the convenience and flexibility of a diversified income-generating fund. The fund's annual net expense ratio is 0.61% of net assets.

Fund of funds

"This new fund offers retirement investors what we believe is an optimal amount of growth without undue risk, and complements other funds and accounts as part of a well-diversified retirement portfolio," says Scott Evans, head of asset management at New York-based TIAA-CREF. "The Lifecycle Retirement Income Fund builds on TIAA-CREF's innovations in investing for retirement including creating the first variable annuity in 1952, pioneering international equity investing in the early 1970s, and taking a leading role in creating the first inflation-protected bonds."

The Lifecycle Retirement Income Fund holds institutional-class shares of other TIAA-CREF funds. It invests 40% in funds that invest in equity securities, and 60% in fixed-income funds. The result is a fund of funds that provides the most conservative option in TIAA-CREF range of lifecycle funds.

The point of its lifecycle funds is to "give our institutional clients another means to help their employees prepare for, transition to, and live in retirement," says Nancy Heller, TIAA-CREF's head of institutional client services. "The Lifecycle Retirement Income Fund adds a new dimension to TIAA-CREF's lineup of retirement funds and accounts, and furthers our organization's mission since 1918 to provide investors with financial security."

TIAA-CREF had $437 billion in combined assets under management on 30 September 2007. -FWR

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