Products November 1, 2004

MassMutual Launches Communication Tool

November 1, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Hoping to move beyond the 'cookie cutter' approach to retirement plan asset allocation, MassMutual Retirement Services has announced the launch of a program that aims to measure how individual employees feel about risk and saving, and then help them invest accordingly.

Reported by

Kip McDaniel

The ‘Prepared USA’ program, aimed at changing the participant communication management system, hopes to move away from the common trend of relying on demographic information, according to a MassMutual press release. Instead, MassMutual will use the ‘Prepared USA’ theme to offer different investment profiles that will enable participants to pick a path to ‘Prepared USA’. These are:

‘I know the way to prepared USA’, offered to employees who like investing, researching, and choosing investments. MassMutual will offer research and fact gathering tools and direct them to appropriate investments.
‘I’d like a map to Prepared USA’ will be offered to employees who want guidance when choosing retirement plan investments. Guidance will be offered through Morningstar Associates.
‘Show me the way to Prepared USA’ is for employees who have little to no experience in investing and want the process made easier by the offering of simpler choices

MassMutual also plans to examine plan data for trends, automate distribution of material and messages, and provide plan sponsors with measures of participant activity results, utilizing software that will be available at the end of the year. The software will allow plan sponsors to identify groups with who they want to communicate.

MassMutual Retirement Services offers products and services to retirement plans. MassMutual Financial Group ( www.massmutual.com ), the parent of MassMutual Retirement Services, is comprised of companies with $285 billion in assets under management.