Kourtney Gibson

Just six months after Kourtney Gibson was promoted from chief institutional officer to CEO of TIAA Retirement Solutions, global stock markets crashed in response to jitters over U.S. trade tariffs. For Gibson and the nearly 900-employee retirement solutions business, the market volatility represented a pressing challenge.

"During April 2025's significant market disruption, our clients faced tremendous uncertainty with regards to their retirement plans," said Gibson, who became CEO last October. "It was essential our teams remained calm and confident, particularly while call volumes spiked, and were agile enough to pivot with our clients' changing needs." (Gibson was ranked on her 2024 title of Chief Institutional Client Officer.)

Amid the market turbulence, TIAA clients poured money into the company's flagship fixed annuity, TIAA Traditional. This, according to Gibson, demonstrated investors' growing interest in guaranteed asset classes as part of a diversified portfolio.