Vantaggi
Incredible benefits package! The not-for-profit culture also lends to working with pleasant coworkers. TIAA-CREF has a large moat around with - perfect credit ratings from the four major companies, 40% market share in 403bs (5.5 times the size of Fidelity, the next closest competitor), penetration into 85% of the colleges/universities in the United States. In addition, the way TIAA-CREF's variable annuities and mutual funds are managed is impressive, as we just about side-stepped the worst of the economic mess.
Svantaggi
The computer systems are years old and sometimes obsolete - Internet Explorer 6 anybody? Sometimes their main system will crash while you are speaking with a participant which takes a full reboot, very unprofessional when people are trusting their retirement to you. Also, the Registration & Licensing department tries their best but is swamped with the new recruits coming in (TIAA-CREF is hiring 400+ consultants this year alone). If you do not already have your securities AND insurance licenses, expect to not be released to be on your own for 6-8 months from hire.