Dow Jones Spotlights TIAA-CREF's International Stock Picking

When a fund outstrips its benchmark,* investors want to know why. Chris Semenuk, lead portfolio manager of TIAA-CREF's high-performing International Equity Fund,** described his process with The Dow Jones News Service, in Globe-Trotting TIAA Fund Manager Watches Top Brass (PDF), May 21, 2007.

Getting to know company executives who put shareholder interests first is Semenuk's top priority. He travels six months of the year to companies in Europe and Asia, meeting with managers, especially new appointees. (The International Equity Fund holds 90% of its assets in companies in continental Europe and Japan, where corporate governance is a well-established concept.) Semenuk also examines companies for positive cash flow, wise investments and undervalued pricing. Reaping the returns on his picks sometimes requires time and patience and isn't guaranteed, but he invests for the long-term shareholder.

One of Semenuk's biggest "wins" is Fiat SpA (FIA), an Italian carmaker that had a history of consistent losses. He began buying stock in the company three years ago, when a new chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, took the reins. Semenuk knew Marchionne as the man who had successfully run two Swiss companies in which the fund had previously invested. Fiat's share price has almost tripled since Semenuk's original purchase.†

Learn more about Semenuk's stock picks in The Dow Jones News Service article, Globe-Trotting TIAA Fund Manager Watches Top Brass (PDF) or view fund information for the International Equity Fund.

*As of May 31, 2007, the fund posted a one-year return (retirement share class) of 32.03% and a three-year average annual total return of 23.68%. For the same period, its benchmark, the Morgan Stanley EAFE Index, had a one-year return (in U.S. dollars) of 26.84% and a three-year average annual total return of 23.08%.  See complete fund information, including Morningstar ratings.

**Check fund performance as of 5/31/07, and see standardized returns as of first quarter, 3/31/07.

The performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Your returns and the principal value of your investments will fluctuate, so that your shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Investing in this fund involves special risks, including currency fluctuation and political and economic instability. These investment risks may be magnified in emerging markets. For a complete discussion of these and other risks, please consult the fund prospectus.

†Fiat represented 4.56% of the fund's holdings as of 3/31/07, but this percentage may have shifted since then.