Summary prospectus JULY 31, 2015 |
TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund
of the TIAA-CREF Funds
Class Ticker: Retail TCILX Retirement TIKRX Premier TIKPX Institutional TIILX
Before you invest, you may want to review the Funds prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Funds prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.tiaa-cref.org/tcfilb. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800 223-1200 or by sending an e-mail request to disclosure@tiaa-cref.org. The Funds prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (SAI), each dated July 31, 2015, as subsequently supplemented, and the sections of the Funds shareholder report dated March 31, 2015 from Summary Portfolio of Investments through Notes to Financial Statements, are incorporated into this Summary Prospectus by reference and may be obtained free of charge at the website, phone number or e-mail address noted above.
Investment objective
The Fund seeks a long-term rate of return that outpaces inflation, primarily through investment in inflation-linked bonds.
Fees and expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund:
SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)
Retail | Retirement
| Premier | Institutional | |||||
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||
Maximum
Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||
Redemption or Exchange Fee | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||
Account Maintenance Fee | $15.00 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund ■ Summary Prospectus 1
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
|
| Retail |
| Retirement Class |
| Premier Class |
| Institutional |
|
Management Fees | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | |||||
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees | 0.25% | | 0.15% | | |||||
Other Expenses | 0.07% | 0.26% | 0.02% | 0.01% | |||||
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.57% | 0.51% | 0.42% | 0.26% | |||||
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements1 | | | | | |||||
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement | 0.57% |
| 0.51% |
| 0.42% |
| 0.26% |
| |
1 | Under the Funds expense reimbursement arrangements, the Funds investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, Inc., has contractually agreed to reimburse the Fund for any Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and extraordinary expenses) that exceed: (i) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; (ii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (iii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; and (iv) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2016, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees. |
Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Funds operating expenses, before expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Funds expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through July 31, 2016, but that there will be no waiver or expense reimbursement agreement in effect thereafter. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| Retail Class |
| Retirement Class |
| Premier Class |
| Institutional Class |
| ||||
1 Year | $ | 58 | $ | 52 | $ | 43 | $ | 27 | ||||
3 Years | $ | 183 | $ | 164 | $ | 135 | $ | 84 | ||||
5 Years | $ | 318 | $ | 285 | $ | 235 | $ | 146 | ||||
10 Years | $ | 714 |
| $ | 640 |
| $ | 530 |
| $ | 331 |
|
Portfolio turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Funds
2 Summary Prospectus ■ TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund
performance. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the Funds portfolio turnover rate was 17% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal investment strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Funds investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, Inc. (Advisors), invests at least 80% of the Funds assets in fixed-income securities whose principal value increases or decreases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), over the life of the security. Typically, the Fund will invest in U.S. Treasury Inflation-Indexed Securities (TIIS). The Fund can also invest in (1) other inflation-indexed bonds issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies, by corporations and other U.S. domiciled issuers, as well as foreign governments, and (2) money market instruments or other short-term securities. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term assets means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.
Like conventional bonds, inflation-indexed bonds generally pay interest at fixed intervals and return the principal at maturity. Unlike conventional bonds, an inflation-indexed bonds principal or interest is adjusted periodically to reflect changes in a specified inflation index. Inflation-indexed bonds are designed to preserve purchasing power over the life of the bond while paying a real rate of interest (i.e., a return over and above the inflation rate). These bonds are generally issued at a fixed interest rate that is lower than that of conventional bonds of comparable maturity and quality, but they generally retain their value against inflation over time.
The principal amount of a TIIS bond is adjusted periodically for inflation using the CPI-U. Interest is paid twice a year. The interest rate is fixed, but the amount of each interest payment varies as the principal is adjusted for inflation. The principal amount of a TIIS instrument may diminish in times of deflation. However, the U.S. Treasury guarantees that the final principal payment at maturity is at least the original principal amount of the bond. The interest and principal components of the bonds may be stripped or sold separately. The Fund can buy or sell either component.
The Fund may also invest in inflation-indexed bonds issued or guaranteed by foreign governments and their agencies, as well as other foreign issuers. These investments are usually designed to track the inflation rate in the issuing country. Under most circumstances, the Funds investments in inflation-linked bonds of foreign issuers are generally less than 20% of its assets.
The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2015, the duration of the Funds benchmark, the Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) Index (Series-L), was 8.09 years. Typically, the Fund invests in corporate and foreign inflation-indexed bonds that are similar in duration and maturity as those of U.S. Government inflation-indexed bonds.
The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Funds investment strategies.
TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund ■ Summary Prospectus 3
In particular, the Fund may purchase and sell interest rate futures to attempt to manage duration and/or certain risks. The Fund also may invest in any fixed-income securities provided that no more than 5% of its assets are invested in fixed-income securities rated below investment-grade.
Principal investment risks
You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. An investment in the Fund, due to the nature of the Funds portfolio holdings, typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:
· Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at or near historic lows, which may increase the Funds exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.
· Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.
· Income Volatility RiskThe risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.
· Special Risks for Inflation-Indexed BondsThe risk that interest payments on, or market values of, inflation-indexed investments decline because of a decline in inflation (or deflation) or changes in investors and/or the markets inflation expectations. In addition, inflation indices may not reflect the true rate of inflation.
· Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.
· Fixed-Income Foreign Investment RiskInvestment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Funds ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.
4 Summary Prospectus ■ TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund
· Active Management RiskThe risk that Advisors strategy, investment selection or trading execution may cause the Fund to underperform relative to the benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.
· Derivatives RiskThe risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.
Please see the non-summary portion of the Prospectus for more detailed information about the risks described above.
Past performance
The following chart and table help illustrate some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Funds performance from year to year. The bar chart shows the annual total returns of the Institutional Class of the Fund, before taxes, in each full calendar year for the last ten years. Because the expenses vary across share classes, the performance of the Institutional Class may vary from the other share classes. Below the bar chart are the best and worst returns of the Institutional Class for a calendar quarter during the period covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Funds average annual total returns for the Institutional Class, Retirement Class, Premier Class and Retail Class over the one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods (where applicable) ended December 31, 2014, and how those returns compare to those of the Funds benchmark index. After-tax performance is shown only for Institutional Class shares, and after-tax returns for the other classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Institutional Class shares.
The returns shown below reflect previous agreements by Advisors to waive or reimburse the Fund for certain fees and expenses. Without these waivers and reimbursements, the returns of the Fund would have been lower. Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. The benchmark index listed below is unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in the benchmark index. The returns for the benchmark index reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.
For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.
TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund ■ Summary Prospectus 5
ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)
The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2015, was 0.00%.
Best quarter: 5.32%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. Worst quarter: -7.01%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.
6 Summary Prospectus ■ TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
For the Periods Ended December 31, 2014
|
| Inception Date |
| One Year |
|
| Five Years |
|
| Ten Years |
|
|
Institutional Class | 10/1/2002 | |||||||||||
Return Before Taxes | 3.42 | % | 3.87 | % | 4.08 | % | ||||||
Return After Taxes on Distributions | 2.53 | % | 2.94 | % | 2.86 | % | ||||||
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of | ||||||||||||
Fund Shares | 1.96 | % | 2.66 | % | 2.73 | % | ||||||
Retail Class | 10/1/2002 | |||||||||||
Return Before Taxes | 3.17 | % | 3.58 | % | 3.88 | % | ||||||
Retirement Class | 3/31/2006 | |||||||||||
Return Before Taxes | 3.20 | % | 3.62 | % | 3.88 | %* | ||||||
Premier Class | 9/30/2009 | |||||||||||
| Return Before Taxes |
|
| 3.31 | % |
| 3.70 | % |
| 3.99 | %* |
|
Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) Index (Series-L) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
| 3.64 | % |
| 4.11 | % |
| 4.37 | % |
| |
Current performance of the Funds shares may be higher or lower than that shown above. | ||||||||||||
* | The performance shown for the Retirement Class and Premier Class that is prior to their inception date is based on performance of the Funds Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Retirement Class and Premier Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower. | |||||||||||
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investors tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). After-tax returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary. | ||||||||||||
For the Funds most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800 842-2252. | ||||||||||||
Portfolio management
Investment Adviser. The Funds investment adviser is Teachers Advisors, Inc.
Portfolio Managers. The following persons manage the Fund on a day-to-day basis:
Name: | John M. Cerra | Stephen Liberatore, CFA |
Title: | Managing Director | Managing Director |
Experience on Fund: | since 2008 | since 2011 |
Purchase and sale of Fund shares
Retail Class shares are available for purchase through certain financial intermediaries or by contacting the Fund directly at 800 223-1200 or www.tiaa-cref.org. Retirement Class and Premier Class shares are generally available for purchase through employee benefit plans or other types of savings plans or accounts. Institutional Class shares are available for purchase directly from the
TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund ■ Summary Prospectus 7
Fund by certain eligible investors (which include employee benefit plans and financial intermediaries).
· The minimum initial investment for Retail Class shares is $2,000 per Fund account for Traditional IRA, Roth IRA and Coverdell accounts and $2,500 for all other account types. Subsequent investments for all account types must be at least $100.
· There is no minimum initial or subsequent investment for Retirement Class shares. Retirement Class shares are primarily offered through employer-sponsored employee benefit plans.
· There is no minimum initial or subsequent investment for Premier Class shares. Premier Class shares are primarily offered through certain financial intermediaries and employer-sponsored employee benefit plans.
· The minimum initial investment is $2 million and the minimum subsequent investment is $1,000 for Institutional Class shares, unless an investor purchases shares by or through financial intermediaries that have entered into an appropriate agreement with the Fund or its affiliates.
Redeeming or Exchanging Shares. You can redeem (sell) or exchange your shares of the Fund on any day that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open for business. Exchanges may be made for shares of the same share class of other funds offered by the Trust. If your shares are held through a third party, please contact that entity for applicable redemption or exchange requirements. If your shares are held directly with the Fund, contact the Fund directly in writing or by telephone.
Tax information
The Fund intends to make distributions to shareholders that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. Distributions made to tax-exempt shareholders or shareholders who hold Fund shares in a tax-deferred account are generally not subject to income tax in the current year, but redemptions made from tax-deferred accounts may be subject to income tax.
Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediary compensation
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and/or its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services or for other investor services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediarys website for more information.
8 Summary Prospectus ■ TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund
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Printed on paper containing recycled fiber | A11988 (7/15) |
A11988 (7/15) |