Strategy. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in small-cap equity securities of foreign issuers. For these purposes, equity securities include equity securities of any type, including common stocks; preferred securities; warrants to purchase common stocks and preferred securities; convertible debt securities that are either in the money or immediately convertible into common stocks or preferred securities; common and preferred securities issued by master limited partnerships and real estate investment trusts; depositary receipts; and other securities with equity characteristics. In seeking a favorable long-term total return, the Fund will invest in securities that the Funds investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (Advisors), believes have favorable prospects for long-term capital appreciation. A small-cap equity security is a security … Show more… Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in small-cap equity securities of foreign issuers. For these purposes, equity securities include equity securities of any type, including common stocks; preferred securities; warrants to purchase common stocks and preferred securities; convertible debt securities that are either in the money or immediately convertible into common stocks or preferred securities; common and preferred securities issued by master limited partnerships and real estate investment trusts; depositary receipts; and other securities with equity characteristics. In seeking a favorable long-term total return, the Fund will invest in securities that the Funds investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (Advisors), believes have favorable prospects for long-term capital appreciation. A small-cap equity security is a security within the capitalization range of the companies included in the Funds benchmark index, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Small Cap Index (the Index). The market capitalization range is determined based on the companies in the Index as of the last business day of the month in which the Index was most recently rebalanced and may be updated to reflect any changes to the Index composition and the market capitalization of companies in the Index. The Fund may invest in equity securities of small companies across a wide range of sectors, growth rates and valuations. From time to time, Advisors reviews the Funds sector and country exposure against the Index to seek to control risk in relation to the Index. The Fund may invest in emerging markets to varying degrees, depending on stock-specific opportunities. The Fund considers investments of foreign issuers to generally include any one or more of the following: (1) companies whose securities are principally traded outside of the United States, (2) companies having their principal business operations outside of the United States, (3) companies organized outside of the United States, and (4) foreign governments and agencies or instrumentalities of foreign governments. The Fund has a policy of maintaining investments of equity securities of foreign issuers in at least three countries other than the United States. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term assets means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. Advisors uses proprietary quantitative models, or models utilizing econometric and mathematical techniques based on financial and investment theories, to evaluate and score a broad universe of stocks in which the Fund invests. These models typically weigh many different variables, including the valuation of the individual stock versus the market or its peers, future earnings and sustainable growth prospects, and the price and volume trends of the stock. The score is used to form the portfolio, and the following additional inputs may also be considered: weightings of the stock and its corresponding sector in the benchmark, correlations of the stocks in the universe and trading costs. The Fund may purchase foreign equity securities denominated in U.S. dollars or in non-U.S. dollar currencies, and equity securities issued in connection with reorganizations and other special situations. Although Advisors does not anticipate that the Fund will have significant exposure to equity securities issued in connection with reorganizations and other special situations, the Fund is not subject to any preset limit. The overall goal is to build a portfolio of stocks that generate a favorable long-term total return, while also managing the relative risk of the Fund versus the Index. The Fund may also purchase and sell futures, options, swaps and other equity derivatives to carry out the Funds investment strategies. The Funds strategy is based upon Advisors understanding of the interplay of market factors and does not assure the Fund will perform as intended. The markets or the prices of individual securities may be affected by factors not taken into account in Advisors analysis. Show less