Human Resources: MassMutual Will Introduce Fiduciary Warranty to the Defined Contribution Market in Fourth Quarter

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- MassMutual's Retirement Services Division today announced that it will introduce a Fiduciary Warranty in the fourth quarter of this year. The Fiduciary Warranty will be available to qualifying plans that include investment options available through MassMutual's Smart Architecture(SM) Investment Program.

    MassMutual's Fiduciary Warranty can help protect plan fiduciaries in the event there is a legal judgment that results in damages attributable to a breach in the Warranty. The Warranty will provide specified assurances to plan fiduciaries in several critical areas including:

    * Independent certification that ERISA standards of fiduciary prudence

      have been applied to investment identification, screening and monitoring

    * Independent certification that investment options under MassMutual's

      Smart Architecture(SM) Investment Program provide a suitable basis for

      plan participants to construct well-diversified investment portfolios

      for retirement

    * Investment options made available include balanced and target date

      investments that meet the Department of Labor's proposed requirements

      for Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIA)

    According to Bill O'Grady, senior vice president of national sales and distribution for MassMutual, "There is no substitute for the in-depth expertise advisors deliver on behalf of plan sponsors and participants. The MassMutual Fiduciary Warranty will provide retirement advisors with assurance that an additional level of screening supports their evaluation of overall investment lineups, and will offer increased confidence to advisors and plan sponsors alike."

    ERISA requires that fiduciaries, whether they are plan sponsors or advisors, engage in a prudent process to develop a lineup of investments and related services that is suitable and appropriate to their retirement plan participants. "MassMutual has always been committed to helping fiduciaries in meeting their ERISA obligations. In fact, we have earned awards for the past several years from the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA) for our ERISA Advisory Services. The Fiduciary Warranty is MassMutual's way of taking that commitment a step further," states Fred Castellani, executive vice president of MassMutual's Retirement Services Division.

    Underpinning MassMutual's Fiduciary Warranty will be a separate, independent third-party certification program that will also launch early in the fourth quarter. The certification will be conducted annually and will focus on MassMutual's investment identification, screening and monitoring process, which uses quantitative and qualitative factors. Evaluation criteria will include investment performance, style consistency, manager tenure, investment philosophy, and expenses. Once the certification program is up and running this fall, all MassMutual clients with investments in the MassMutual Smart Architecture(SM) Investment Program will benefit from this third-party certification.

    According to Ian Sheridan, chief marketing officer of MassMutual's Retirement Services Division, MassMutual's Fiduciary Warranty is being offered in response to the needs of the retirement services marketplace. "The MassMutual Fiduciary Warranty promotes the plan sponsor's or advisor's development and maintenance of diversified plan investment lineups. As such, it enables participants to create a retirement portfolio that best meets their individual objectives, and offers advisors, plan sponsors and participants added peace-of-mind and confidence," he adds.

    Additional information about MassMutual's third-party certification program, as well as terms and conditions of the Fiduciary Warranty, will be released in the fall. For more information about MassMutual Retirement Services, please contact your MassMutual sales representative or MassMutual at 1-866-444-2601.

About MassMutual

    MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has been serving retirement plans for more than 60 years. It offers a full range of products and services for corporate, union, nonprofit and governmental employers' defined benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. It serves approximately one million participants.

    MassMutual Financial Group is the fleet name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliates, with more than $450 billion in assets under management at year-end 2006. Assets under management include assets and certain external investment funds managed by MassMutual's affiliates.

    Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a mutually owned financial protection, accumulation and income management company headquartered in Springfield, Mass. MassMutual's major affiliates include: OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; MML Investors Services, Inc., MassMutual International LLC and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB. MassMutual is on the Internet at www.massmutual.com.

    Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and affiliates, Springfield, MA 01111-0001 Securities offered through registered representatives of MML Investors Services, Inc., a MassMutual subsidiary. Copyright (C) 2007 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. All rights reserved.

Contact: Lisa Reilly
413-744-0589
lreilly[at]massmutual.com