Pitney Now Heading TIAA’s Lifetime Income Default Unit

Tim Pitney

TIAA is growing its lifetime income default solutions division by creating a role, it announced internally in a June 13 memo. Tim Pitney has been promoted to the new position, head of lifetime income default solutions, and will start on June 19.

Pitney, formerly a managing director for institutional investments distribution, will report to David Swallow, TIAA’s head of consultant relations.

Pitney, who joined TIAA in 2013, will be responsible for leading efforts to educate plan sponsors, consultants and TIAA colleagues on the benefits of integrating lifetime income features into default options for defined contribution plans, according to a memo from Swallow addressed to “retirement solutions associates and key partners.”

Pitney’s new role will provide TIAA with a full-time leader focused on the growing area of providing lifetime income options to participants, according to a spokesperson. The firm’s customized default solution with lifetime income, RetirePlus, has over 285 institutional clients and is approaching $20 billion in assets under management, the spokesperson said via email.

“Tim will take [the] lead on enhancing our sales process and implementing better coordination and collaboration across our teams,” Swallow wrote in the memo. “Tim will also partner closely with the Nuveen Retirement Investing team as we work together to bring new default solutions to the market and make available to our recordkept clients.”

The new role stems in part from an increased focus at TIAA on the “critically important role consultants play in bringing lifetime income to more Americans,” the spokesperson said.

TIAA appointed Pitney to the role because of his industry experience, Swallow added.

“He has 30 years of investment and consulting experience along with a track record of driving consistent growth in the adoption of RetirePlus that make him the perfect fit for this role and leading us into our broader solution capabilities,” Swallow wrote.

Lat month, TIAA appointed Melissa Kivett to the newly created role of executive vice president of corporate retirement solutions and business development to grow the firm’s market share in the corporate 401(k) market.

This week, the New York-based firm put its support behind a re-introduced House bill known as the Lifetime Income for Employees Act that would permit annuities as a 401(k) default, with a limit of 50% of retirement contributions.