TIAA-CREF Adopts Proxy Voting Criteria for SRI Fund

June 21, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Pension fund TIAA-CREF has decided to use specific criteria for voting shares held in its $7 billion Social Choice Account.

The decision to begin using criteria of the KLD Broad Market Social Index will help ensure consistency with the investment strategy of the Social Choice Account, according to TIAA-CREF senior vice president and head of corporate governance John Wilcox, Reuters reported.

Specifically, TIAA-CREF decided that investing in community development such as low income housing and in private venture capital projects is not feasible in the Social Choice Account, Reuters reported.

According to Wilcox, it would be difficult and costly to value such investments on a daily basis, the news report said.

More about the Social Choice Account is  here . TIAA-CREF’s socially responsible investing criteria are  here .

The company recently named a new SRI director (See  TIAA-CREF Names Social Investing Director  ).

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