MassMutual Retirement Services is launching a new sales and operations team to “more aggressively compete in the defined contribution investment only defined contribution (DCIO) marketplace.”
It will do so by promoting its mutual funds and stable value products.
The DCIO space has been the subject of controversy of late, as various industry stakeholders continue to argue over its definition and what truly constitutes “investment only” services.
“MassMutual’s mutual funds and stable value products are designed specifically to help retirement savers reach their goals and retire on their own terms,” said Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of retirement services and worksite insurance. “Our new team of seasoned professionals will work to make our retirement-focused funds available to even more plans and their participants.”
The new DCIO team is led by Aruna Hobbs, Senior Managing Director and Head of Institutional Investments, who joined MassMutual last fall to raise the company’s stature in the mutual funds universe. The unit includes the newly appointed DCIO sales team of Johanna Vogel, Managing Director, National Consultant Relations; Paul Webb, National Practice Leader – Adviser Channels; and Rob Olszewski and John Hipsher, Regional Investment Directors, who are charged with growing MassMutual Fund assets across the country. A four-member operations unit supports the DCIO sales team.
“There is a misconception that MassMutual’s funds are proprietary when the opposite is true,” Hobbs said. “The Funds select best-in-class managers and create unique combinations of specialized investment expertise that you can’t find anywhere else. Our multi-manager approach is well suited for financial advisors and plan sponsors who are looking for diversification. Additionally, these Funds are available on not just our own platform, but are also on more than 20 other platforms for use by advisors and plans.”
The DCIO team partners with MassMutual’s 80 regional sales directors and managing directors, and works with financial advisors and consultants, in the retirement plans marketplace. MassMutual aims to increase its $80 billion in assets under management for retirement plan sponsors by $30 billion in the next five years, Hobbs said.
“We strongly believe in our subadvisory approach that offers unique diversification benefits to retirement plan participants, plan sponsors and their financial advisors,” Hobbs said. “We are ready to tell our story to the DCIO marketplace and compete with other top fund companies in the industry.”
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