Giant institutional investors like CalPERS and Fidelity Investments are becoming more vocal than ever these days, weighing in on everything from Michael Eisner’s role at Disney to reforms at the New York Stock Exchange. But don’t expect TIAA-CREF to join them at the bully pulpit, despite its substantial clout as the world’s largest defined contribution pension plan. Scott Evans, the $300 billion fund’s new chief investment officer, prefers to keep a lower profile.
“I’ve always been of the opinion that you can accomplish more working behind the scenes,” says the 44-year-old Evans, who began work as an analyst at the New Yorkbased retirement system for college and university employees in 1985. He knows plenty about quietly getting things done, having worked his way up through TIAA-CREF to become head of equity investments in 1997.
When Evans’s predecessor as CIO, Marty Leibowitz, retired in February, many expected CEO Herb Allison to hire an outsider who would help raise the organization’s visibility. By picking the popular Evans, Allison has tacitly endorsed the strong-but-silent path.
