So long TIAA CREF!

My employer offers two different companies for retirement investing. I originally signed up for TIAA/CREF as they had a Real Estate option and the other company (Invesmart) did not.

I allocated a more than advisable percentage of my savings into the Real Estate offering for several years and did pretty well with that. I am switching out of TIAA CREF and into Invesmart which means no more Real Estate option. Even though Real Estate is not likely to do as well as it has over the last few years, I am still bummed I won't have the option. But overall, I think Invesmart is a better choice.

I think both the plans my employer offers are ok, but there are two reasons I am switching.

1. The plan available to me through TIAA/CREF invests in annuities in a 403(b). These are not mutual funds so I cannot research the holdings on morningstar. I cannot compare them to other 'funds' in the same categories. I can go here and assess performance, but I cannot compare each holding, side by side with the competition.
2. The main reason I am switching is that the options through Invesmart are, for the most part, better (once one goes through the tedium of trying to compare the two). Invesmart picks top mutual funds in each category and offers that fund. If a fund falls off the wagon they replace it with a better performing fund in the same category.