TIAA, which claims to be the largest U.S. provider of lifetime income, announced a strategic partnership with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) to accelerate the transformation of TIAA’s retirement recordkeeping capabilities and operations.
The agreement capitalizes on the strengths of “both organizations to provide next-generation technologies and enhanced recordkeeping to TIAA’s plan sponsor clients and their employees, and plan consultants.”
Beginning in 2025, Accenture—a professional services company “that helps businesses reinvent themselves using technology, data, and artificial intelligence (AI)—will support parts of TIAA’s recordkeeping operations, making them more efficient through automation and enhanced processes over time.”
TIAA will retain full responsibility “for retirement plans and recordkeeping services, as well as hosting and safeguarding plan data on its platforms.”
TIAA also will continue to be responsible “for all aspects of relationships with plan sponsors, their employees, and plan consultants.”
Kourtney Gibson, chief institutional client officer at TIAA said:
“With more than 40% of American households at risk of running short of money in retirement, the U.S. faces a real retirement crisis. Joining forces with Accenture and leveraging their capabilities at scale better positions us to strengthen how we operate, enhance our clients’ experience and deliver on our mission of securing retirements.”
Plan sponsors and consultants will continue to work “with their existing TIAA relationship management and consultant relations teams.”
Over time, the partnership will result “in new digital capabilities and AI-enabled tools for TIAA relationship managers, enabling them to provide enhanced service for plan sponsors.”
Plan consultants will see improvements that include “an elevated digital experience and expanded reporting capabilities with access to data and insights that can be used across their practice.”
The strategic partnership will develop capabilities “that will help individual plan participants create a more secure financial future through new digital features—from the moment they enroll, to managing their retirement plans, to when they’re ready to retire, and into retirement.”
Planned enhancements include access to innovative retirement planning solutions “featuring simple ways to track progress toward their retirement readiness.”
Over time, they will also see “enhanced education and advice offerings on a wide range of financial topics that can better prepare them to meet their retirement goals consistently throughout their careers and life stages.”
Sastry Durvasula, chief information and client services officer at TIAA said:
“The power of AI, cloud and digital ecosystems opens a new world of opportunities in the way we serve our clients. Now is the perfect time to partner with Accenture to reimagine our recordkeeping capabilities and revolutionize the retirement industry.”
Approximately 1,500 TIAA full-time associates “in the U.S. and India will be offered positions at Accenture, reflecting the important role they will play in providing continuity and institutional knowledge for clients.”
These associates primarily support TIAA’s back-end recordkeeping operations. They will continue to perform similar client-support roles “as they do now, but with automated tools and enhanced processes.”
This will integrate Accenture into TIAA’s recordkeeping operations “in a way that is seamless to its institutional clients.”
This announcement builds upon “an existing relationship, with TIAA and Accenture having successfully partnered on TIAA infrastructure, business process, and technology projects. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.”
