MS&AD to acquire 18% stake in Barings from MassMutual for $1.44B

MassMutual has reached an agreement for MS&AD Insurance Group to acquire an 18% equity stake in Barings, its global asset management subsidiary.

The transaction, carried out through MS&AD’s subsidiary Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, will provide MassMutual with approximately $1.44 billion in cash proceeds.

Following the completion of the deal, MassMutual will retain an 82% stake in Barings and maintain controlling governance rights. Barings will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary, with no changes to its daily operations, investment committees, or strategy.

The company will remain responsible for managing the majority of MassMutual’s general investment account and will continue to play a central role in MassMutual’s asset management strategy.

MS&AD will provide growth capital to support Barings’ long-term strategy as part of the new partnership. Barings will also expand its relationship with MS&AD by managing assets within MS&AD’s general investment account, which is expected to strengthen and diversify MS&AD’s investment portfolio. A member of MS&AD’s leadership team will join the Barings board of managers.

Roger Crandall (pictured above), chairman, president, and CEO of MassMutual, said, “The transaction accelerates Barings’ growth and builds on our long-standing, successful optimization of the intersection of insurance and asset management, allowing us to realize even more value over time and ultimately benefiting our policyowners and customers.”

The transaction comes at a time when the US insurance sector has seen a shift in merger and acquisition activity. While the overall number of insurance agency M&A deals in the United States and Canada reached 520 in the first three quarters of 2025, this represented a 7% decline from the same period in 2024.

However, specialty insurance M&A has accelerated, with private equity firms focusing on niche areas such as cyber, environmental, and automation-related liabilities. This trend has contributed to a more targeted approach in dealmaking as the year concludes.

Within this evolving M&A landscape, several firms have played prominent roles. BroadStreet Partners led all buyers with 57 transactions in 2025, while Hub International completed 38 acquisitions.

Other intermediaries, including Alera Group, HighStreet Partners, and King Risk Partners, also increased their deal counts over the previous year, reflecting ongoing consolidation and competition among leading insurance agencies.