Baker the latest to exit MassMutual’s retirement income unit

Gary F. Baker, vice president in the retirement income business division of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., is leaving the company, marking the last of a string of departures from the retirement income group.

In June, Stephen L. Deschenes, the former senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the group, left MassMutual to join Sun Life Financial Inc.’s U.S. division as senior vice president and general manager of the company’s annuity unit. In August, Tom Johnson, a former senior vice president for retirement income and strategic business development at MassMutual, left the company as part of a restructuring that laid off 500 employees.

MassMutual launched its retirement income group in 2005, when the firm acquired Jerome S. Golden’s business, called Golden Retirement Resources. The insurer brought on the likes of Mr. Baker, an 18-year veteran of GE Capital Assurance Co. (now Genworth Financial Inc.), along with Mr. Deschenes and Mr. Johnson, to run the group.

Over the past couple of years, though, MassMutual has been hit by the market meltdown and ratings downgrades. In response, the company has shifted course to focus on traditional insurance products, according to people familiar with the situation.

As a result, the insurer has virtually all but shut down its retirement income group. Mr. Baker didn’t return calls by press time.

His last day at MassMutual will be this Friday.

Related Topics: Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.