TIAA continues to add to its C-suite diversity

Retirement and investment manager TIAA has been in operation for more than 100 years. But in less than a year, it has made major strides when it comes to C-suite diversity.

Dave Dowrich / Courtesy of TIAA and the Dowrich family

TIAA announced on Wednesday that Dave Dowrich is the next CFO, effective November 1. Dowrich joins the company from Prudential Financial, where he was SVP and CFO for the international business and based in Japan. In his new role, Dowrich succeeds Glenn Ritcher, who resigned from TIAA in May, according to the company. Seun Salami, who leads finance at Nuveen, a division of TIAA, is currently acting CFO.

The firm also announced on Wednesday that Derek Ferguson was named chief administrative officer, effective October 4. Ferguson joins TIAA from Robin Hood Foundation, where he is interim CEO and COO. He also held leadership roles at Combs Enterprises and Revolt Media & TV.

Ferguson and Dowrich, Black males and now C-suite leaders at TIAA, are challenging the traditional underrepresentation of people of color in financial sector leadership roles. A Gartner survey conducted in 2020 found people of color comprise just 11% of the total workforce in corporate finance and only 6% of senior finance roles. In 2021, the corporate world saw another milestone with two Black women, TIAA president and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett and Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer, running Fortune 500 companies for the first time. In May, Duckett succeeded Roger W. Ferguson Jr., who retired after 13 years as CEO. Ferguson was one of few Black male Fortune 500 CEOs.

Is this a sign of more diversity at the top of financial services firms? “Any time someone from an underrepresented group is elevated into a visible leadership position, it supplies a powerful signal,” says Anita Williams Woolley, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

“Organizations that are committed to cultivating a more diverse workforce, not only at the entry level but all the way to the highest levels, tend to be better places to work,” Woolley says. “And they also perform better. The data supporting the value of diversity in work settings is fairly consistent.” For example, companies in the top quartile for ethnic/cultural diversity in their executive teams are 33% more likely to outperform on profitability, according to a McKinsey report.

The diversity of TIAA’s executive leadership team “moves the bar” and “indicates that with effort, diversifying these top roles is quite doable,” says Corinne Post, a professor of management at Villanova School of Business. Any implications for the financial industry at large? “It heightens stakeholders’ expectations to see more diversity in top executive ranks in finance, which may put more pressure on firms in the industry to review their talent management and talent identification processes,” Post says.

Stepping into his CFO position, Dowrich will bring experience from leadership roles at AIG, including his time as CFO of AIG Japan and Asia Pacific, and CFO and chief financial actuary of institutional markets. He also served as interim CEO of international life and retirement. Earlier in his career, Dowrich held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. At TIAA, he will be based in New York and report to Duckett.

“Every aspect and all stages of Dave’s career combine to make him the perfect leader for our critical financial actions,” Duckett said in a statement. 

See you tomorrow.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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