MassMutual raises retirement game with hiring spree

MassMutual Retirement Services has been on a hiring spree as it seeks to grow its position in the retirement plan marketplace.
Wednesday, the insurer announced the hiring of seven regional sales directors — wholesalers — for retirement plans, all of whom will specialize in the small defined contribution plan market, those with fewer than $15 million in assets.
In late July, MassMutual appointed eight new relationship managers, covering New York, New Jersey, New England, California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The hires were part of the company’s effort to raise the number of relationship managers to 110, from 98, in 2015.
In addition, the insurer raised its profile early last month among plans with at least $15 million in assets by announcing a pairing with BlackRock Inc., enabling MassMutual to make a managed asset allocation strategy available to advisers working with retirement plans. In that arrangement, MassMutual acts as a record keeper while BlackRock acts as a fiduciary designing the asset allocation and glidepath models for the offering.
Eric Wietsma, senior vice president of sales and worksite education at MassMutual Retirement Services, says that the insurer has plans to broaden its footprint in the small plan space, a market segment many advisers once viewed as an afterthought when working with entrepreneurial wealth management clients, but that’s now demanding more attention as business owners seek better results for their employees.
“Advisers are being asked by clients to improve outcomes for participants and to make retirement plans work better,” said Mr. Wietsma. “It’s not just from the traditional metrics of enrollment, but to prepare [workers] to retire on their own terms.”
In the small-plan realm, plan sponsors are looking for a team of specialists to work with their retirement plan. The adviser provides counsel to plan sponsors and can educate participants. The third-party administrator helps out on the plan design side. MassMutual’s small plan wholesalers will attempt to bring those resources together and do so locally, Mr. Wietsma added.
Indeed, the company is banking on those moves to result in more plan victories on the small-employer side. This year, the company is leaning toward close to $4 billion in sales for plans that are below the $15 million in assets mark. They’re aiming to boost production to $5 billion, Mr. Wietsma observed.
“In the marketplace, we see this higher level expectation around the effectiveness of these plans,” he added. “It’s important to recognize that resources matter and that having a local presence, wherever the location may be, is critical.”
The seven new regional sales directors MassMutual announced Wednesday include:
• Brian Cahal, who will focus on southern Ohio and hails from Principal Financial Group.
• Will Deyoung, who’s been promoted to regional sales director after serving as regional sales consultant at MassMutual.
• Jeff Isaac, who is based out of Long Island, N.Y., and will work with all distribution channels — wirehouses, regional firms, independent firms and third-party administrators — in the area. He comes from UBS.
• Tom O’Connell, who works with wirehouse brokers in Boston and southern Massachusetts. Previously, he was with Lincoln Financial Group.
• Mark Robinson, who covers all channels in western North Carolina. He joins MassMutual from Paychex.
• Ryan Rustler, who covers all channels in Wisconsin, also joins from Paychex.
• Matt Solomon joins from Transamerica, where he worked in retirement sales. He serves all channels in Indiana.