Prior to CREF's Settlement with the SEC (1989), the Expense Ratios (ER) of the CREF Variable Annuity accounts were not reported or regulated the same as open-end mutual funds. (This discussion will focus on CREF Stock, because it's the largest one, and the "original". I will neglect the fact that it was originally equivalent to a domestic-only S&P 500 Index Fund. It is much more diversified today.)
When I first started paying attention, in 1986, the ER for CREF Stock was 0.24%. Once the Settlement was signed, it moved up to 0.32%. Its peak was around 0.64%, in 2009. (Note 1)
FOOTNOTES:
(1) ERs for the CREF VA Accounts are adjusted, as often as daily, and when necessary, retrospectively. That's because CREF pledges to pay for expenses "at cost." As I have pointed out elsewhere, the dollars billed (and subject to approval by CREF) by, say, Nuveen, are determined by Nuveen, and not by CREF. I have chosen to use the annual May 1 Prospectus estimate of ER in this discussion.