In an effort to help shield University employees from aggressive marketing or potential fraud, following is information about retirement plan vendors and who may appropriately contact you.
Recently, an individual who said he was associated with the University's retirement plan contacted an employee about setting up a meeting to discuss retirement funds. The individual said he was going to be in the employee’s building on a particular date and wanted to set up an appointment to discuss investments. This individual is not affiliated with SURS, nor with our approved 403(b) Plan vendors.
403(b) Plan
The University’s 403(b) Plan has two vendors, TIAA-CREF and Fidelity Investments. These are the only two vendor companies that are approved to provide investment options and educational opportunities. Designated representatives from these companies, who may have reason to contact employees, are:
TIAA-CREF
Chris Stephens
Ken Wolinski
Brian Buchmeier (UIS) (replaced by Chris Stephens as of February 2015)
Wealth Management Advisors: Yvonne Jimenez, Colleen Van Rossem, and Arlene Eason
Fidelity Investments
Tim Wayman
These representatives visit each campus regularly to provide free, one-on-one counseling sessions and seminars. You can register for sessions via NESSIE. These sessions are advertised through email, timeclock posters, and occasional mailing to your home address. None of the vendor companies make cold calls to invite employees to these sessions.
TIAA-CREF provides no-cost expanded wealth management services for 403(b) participants whose TIAA-CREF accounts reach a certain level of funds. TIAA-CREF Wealth Management Advisors (WMAs) do make calls to those employees, but must clearly identify themselves as TIAA-CREF employees, and offer these additional services in a no-pressure, informational way.
457 Deferred Comp Plan
The State of Illinois’ 457 Deferred Compensation Plan is administered by CMS and has only one approved vendor company - T. Rowe Price. CMS provides education on-campus on very limited occasions for seminars or employee expos. T. Rowe Price generally does not send representatives to the campuses. Because CMS creates "shell" accounts in the T. Rowe Price system for all employees, all new hires will receive a welcome letter from T. Rowe Price regardless of whether they enroll in the 457 Plan. Additionally, you will receive a change of address letter from T. Rowe Price when you submit a change of address in NESSIE, again regardless of whether you participate in the 457 Plan.
Vendor representatives only contact you directly if you initiate contact first (exception is TIAA-CREF WMAs described above), such as to provide follow up you request after a seminar or counseling appointment.
It is important for you to be aware that your name and workplace contact information are often available through online directories and department websites. As such, you are encouraged to be skeptical of any attempts by individuals to request personal or financial information. You should exercise the same care and caution as you would when receiving sales calls at your home.
Questions?
If you are unsure if a contact is a legitimate University benefit plan representative, you can contact either the University Payroll and Benefits (UPB) office benefits@uillinois.edu or the UHR office uihr@uillinois.edu.
If you are unsure if a contact representing SURS is legitimate, you should call SURS directly at 800-ASK-SURS
.
