MassMutual to Launch New RetireSmart(SM) Participant Engagement Platform

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has announced plans to introduce its new RetireSmart(SM) participant engagement platform in Q2 2010. The new platform will include a full suite of enrollment, transition and investment change materials in a variety of themes. Plan sponsors will have the option to choose from a menu of creative options to support the theme best suited to their own participant population. The new RetireSmart participant engagement platform will be phased in to all existing and new retirement plans administered by MassMutual beginning in the second quarter of 2010.

"We believe our new participant engagement materials will offer both the plan sponsor and the participant the best experience available in the market," says E. Heather Smiley, vice president and chief marketing officer, MassMutual Retirement Services Division. "Sponsors will have a variety of concepts supported by relevant imagery from which to choose for their enrollment, transition and investment change materials. As such, plan participants will receive the necessary information in a visually appealing and digestible format that makes it easy for them to take action," she adds.

Highlights of the new RetireSmart participant engagement platform include:

• Streamlined, action-oriented enrollment, transition and investment change materials focus on helping participants take smart, targeted steps toward their retirement goals. The materials provide participants with precisely the information they need to take appropriate action at a specific point in time.
• A variety of fresh, engaging images that provide plan sponsors with choice, flexibility and relevance to their specific participant population
• An enhanced process that delivers full investment profiles along with enrollment, transition and investment change materials, and the ability to include optional forms, plan highlights, and required notices.
• The new RetireSmart participant engagement platform helps simplify the overall experience for participants and plan sponsors, and also includes additional support for plan sponsors to help them meet some of their ERISA 404(c) responsibilities.

The launch of MassMutual's new RetireSmart participant engagement platform builds on the company's RetireSmart participant education theme which also includes RetireSmart(SM) Academy, a robust participant education website introduced earlier this year.

Further information about MassMutual's participant engagement platform is available at https://wwwrs.massmutual.com/rsstaticfiles/retire/pdffolder/rs4416.pdf.  To tour MassMutual's RetireSmart Academy, please visit http://retiresmartacademy.massmutual.com/sites/mm. For more information about MassMutual Retirement Services, please contact your retirement plan advisor or call MassMutual at (888) 626-4911.

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.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyholders.  The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyholders every year since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company's strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) [of which Retirement Services is a division] and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

For more information, visit massmutual.com.

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SOURCE MassMutual Retirement Services Division