TIAA-CREF ups equities in lifecycles

New York-based TIAA-CREF has increased equity exposure on all seven of its lifecycle funds to 90% up from 80%, the company announced today. The company also increased equity exposure for these funds during retirement from 35% to 50% and will decrease to 40% ten years beyond the retirement date. "Our plan participants have told us that they are continually looking to maximize the performance of their retirement investments to meet their long- term savings goals while seeking to minimize downside market risk," said Padelford Lattimer, senior managing director of product management, in a statement. TIAA-CREF is one of the latest companies to increase equity exposure in target date funds. The company said it has also added exposure to international equities, high-yield bond exposure, inflation-linked and short-term bond exposure 10 to 15 years prior to the target retirement date, and has reduced exposure to REITS.