Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income investments with average maturities or average lives of less than 5 years. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may also invest in securities having a variable or floating interest rate. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration, the duration of the Fund’s portfolio typically ranges between zero and three years. As of May 31, 2024, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index, was 1.77 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The term “duration” is defined in the Glossary section in the non-summary portion of the Prospectus.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the ESG criteria and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”)’s proprietary Impact framework described below, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

When selecting investments for the Fund, Advisors considers certain ESG criteria or Impact framework. The Fund’s Impact framework, described in more detail below, provides direct exposure to issuers or projects that Advisors believes have the potential to have social or environmental benefits. The ESG criteria are generally implemented based on data provided by independent research vendor(s). In those limited cases where independent ESG criteria are not available for certain types of securities or for certain issuers, these securities may nonetheless be eligible for the Fund should they meet certain internal ESG criteria.

The corporate issuer evaluation process favors companies with leadership in ESG performance relative to their peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include climate change, natural resource use, waste management and environmental opportunities. Social evaluation categories include human capital, product safety and social opportunities. Governance assessment categories include corporate governance, business ethics and government & public policy. How well companies adhere to international norms and principles and involvement in major ESG controversies (examples of which may relate to the

environment, customers, human rights & community, labor rights & supply chain, and governance) are other considerations.

The ESG evaluation process with respect to corporate issuers is conducted on an industry-specific basis and involves the identification of key performance indicators, which are given more or less relative weight compared to the broader range of potential assessment categories. When ESG concerns exist, the evaluation process gives careful consideration to how companies address the risks and opportunities they face in the context of their sector or industry and relative to their peers. The Fund will not generally invest in companies significantly involved in certain business activities including, but not limited to, the production of alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power, thermal coal, and gambling products and services.

The ESG evaluation process with respect to government issuers favors issuers with leadership in ESG performance relative to all peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include the issuer’s ability to protect, harness, and supplement its natural resources, and to manage environmental vulnerabilities and externalities. Social assessment categories include the issuer’s ability to develop a healthy, productive, and stable workforce and knowledge capital, and to create a supportive economic environment. Governance assessment categories include the issuer’s institutional capacity to support long-term stability and well-functioning financial, judicial, and political systems, and capacity to address environmental and social risks. The government ESG evaluation process is conducted on a global basis and reflects how an issuer’s exposure to and management of ESG risk factors may affect the long-term sustainability of its economy.

While Advisors may invest in issuers that meet these criteria, it is not required to invest in every issuer that meets these criteria. In addition, concerns with respect to one ESG assessment category may not automatically eliminate an issuer from being considered an eligible Fund investment. The ESG criteria and the Impact framework the Fund takes into consideration are both non-fundamental investment policies and may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s ESG criteria.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises (“GSEs”) such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). Advisors does not take into consideration

whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the ESG criteria or the Fund’s Impact framework. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Board of Trustees of the Trust or a designated committee thereof (“Board of Trustees”) reviews the ESG criteria used to evaluate securities held by the Fund and the ESG vendor(s) that provide the data that help inform this criteria. Subject to Board of Trustees review, Advisors has the right to change the ESG vendor(s) at any time and to add to the number of vendors providing the ESG data.

Additionally, Advisors invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments taking into consideration the Impact framework as implemented by the Fund’s portfolio management team. These investments provide direct exposure to issuers and/or individual projects that Advisors, through its proprietary analysis, believes have the potential to have social or environmental benefits. Within this exposure to impact investments, the Fund seeks opportunities to invest in publicly traded fixed-income securities that finance initiatives in areas including affordable housing, community and economic development, renewable energy and climate change, and natural resources. These investments will be selected based on the same financial criteria used by Advisors in selecting the Fund’s other fixed-income investments. The portion of the Fund invested in accordance with the Impact framework is not additionally subject to ESG criteria. Advisors engages with certain issuers of investments deemed by Advisors to represent impact securities to communicate impact reporting preferences and encourage alignment with industry best practices regarding responsible investment.

Investing on the basis of ESG criteria and according to the Fund’s Impact framework are qualitative and subjective by nature. There can be no assurance that every Fund investment will meet ESG criteria or Impact framework, or will do so at all times, or that the ESG criteria and the Impact framework or any judgment exercised by Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in credit default swaps or index credit default swaps primarily to hedge or manage risks associated with assets held by the Fund or to facilitate the implementation of portfolio strategies for the Fund. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 40% of the Fund’s assets.