Firm cares about Institutional Clients (schools) more than Individual Clients (retail) - Wealth Management Advisor TIAA Employee Review

2.0
Nov 2, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Quiet quitting central if you are one to do so. Great benefits and able to leave early each day unless you want to outperform. Compensation is middle of the road for w2 advisor. No equity or ownership available which is important to high producing advisors. CEO T seems to be making positive changes where she can.

Cons

No growth as an advisor. They have created a perceived career path, but it never pans out since they change compensation each year. There is no true integration of financial planning. It's basically running a high-level retirement model and selling clients on consolidating/managed assets. Asset gathering is the name of the game and there is no accountability for providing solid financial advice. The institutional side is main priority. Winning big retirement plans is top of mind.

Explore other reviews about TIAA

5.0
Jun 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work life balance, good benefits, decent pay, ease of running your own practice as an “advisor”, and healthy work environment

Cons

Management styles can vary and affect your experience, upper management doesn’t seem to be well equipped to ensure the organization’s success but it is resilient nonetheless.

2.0
Jul 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good starting salary and benefits package.

Cons

The longer you’re there, the more of an expectation that you work more for the same or less income. Producers find it hard to justify staying when leadership keeps moving the goal posts on how to increase income. No rhyme or reason as to how they decide “promotions.” One advisor might have one good year and get promoted over an advisor that produces year in and year out. They fail to share revenue because they’d have a hard time justifying the income level compared to outside advisors with a fraction of the book size. They claim and depend on brand recognition to justify a capped income but fail, or just won’t admit that is why they keep losing their top talent. Operations is a nightmare that I can’t even begin to describe. When I share the processes that have been in place for over a decade, colleagues in the industry shake their head and laugh. They can’t believe we earn and keep business. The saying while I was there was “the biggest threat we face is that TIAA clients start to explore their options outside of TIAA.”

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