2020 ANNUAL AND CORPORAT E AND CORPORAT ANNUAL 2020 RESPONSIBILITY REPORT For more information, visit us at www.MassMutual.com 10% FIBER DERIVED FROM POST CONSUMER WASTE Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and affiliates, 1295 State Street, Springfield, MA 01111-0001 © 2021 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, PR1000 20192019 Springfield, MA 01111-0001. All rights reserved. CRN202204-262239 20733_MM_AR_COVER.indd 1 4/1/21 2:54 PM Executive Leadership Roger W. Crandall Michael O’Connor Chairman, President General Counsel About MassMutual® & Chief Executive Officer Susan Cicco Gareth Ross MassMutual is a leading mutual Head of Human Resources Head of Enterprise & Employee Experience Technology & Experience life insurance company that is Tim Corbett Elizabeth Ward run for the benefit of its members Chief Investment Officer Chief Financial Officer Geoffrey Craddock and participating policyowners. Subsidiary Leadership Chief Risk Officer Founded in 1851, the company Michael Fanning Eddie Ahmed Head of MassMutual U.S. Chairman, CEO & President has been continually guided by MassMutual International one consistent purpose: We help Pia Flanagan Mike Freno Chief Operating Officer Chairman, CEO & President people secure their future and CEO Action for Racial Equity Barings LLC protect the ones they loveSM. With a focus on delivering Awards & Accolades long-term value, MassMutual 50 Companies with the Best Innovative Initiatives Award Benefits in Boston 2020 Boston Women’s Workforce Council offers a wide range of protection, Built in Boston Military Friendly Employer America’s Best Victory Media accumulation, wealth Employers of Diversity Forbes Top Places To Work in Massachusetts management, and retirement Best Places to Work 2020 The Boston Globe Built in Boston products and services. World’s Most Admired Companies Best Places to Work for Disability FORTUNE ® Inclusion with a Disability Equality Index Score of 100% World’s Most Ethical Companies ® For more information, Disability Equality Index (DEI) Ethisphere Institute Best Places to Work for LGBTQ visit us at www.MassMutual.com Equality with a Corporate Equality Index Score of 100% Human Rights Campaign 2 2020 MASSMUTUAL ANNUAL REPORT 33 20733_MM_AR_COVER.indd 2 4/5/21 4:45 PM Dear Fellow Policyowners and Customers, I have often started these letters by talking about Strong Performance in a Pandemic MassMutual’s founders—a group who came together in COVID-19 presented extraordinary and unprecedented 1851 to help friends and families secure their future and challenges throughout 2020, ending the U.S. economy’s protect the ones they love. longest expansion in history. Unemployment rose dramatically, with millions of families falling on hard times. It’sastorythat’salwaysmeantalottome,notonlybecauseit And as historically low interest rates plunged even further, still reflects MassMutual’s purpose nearly 170 years later, but pressure intensified on both individual savers and institutions. also because it defines the world I believe we all want to live in —a world where we all do our best to help each other succeed. Yetwealsosawmeaningfulsignsofconfidenceandresiliency as the year progressed. While volatility and uncertainty As we look back on a tumultuous year, it’s clear that our persisted, the markets rebounded, even notching new commitment to this notion—which we call Live Mutual—is records. And December saw the much-anticipated and more important than ever. 2020 was a year when a global emotional arrival of the first vaccines, which will save pandemic claimed millions of lives, shuttered businesses, countless lives and be critical to catalyzing a full recovery. and threatened families’ finances. It also shed new light on long-standing racial prejudice and exposed vast inequalities and shortcomings in our world. $31B Domestic Insurance & Retirement Sales Yet it also offered flashes of hope, reminding us that society works best when it works for everyone. Neighbors $830B Insurance Protection in Force delivered groceries and supplies to the most vulnerable in their communities. Frontline responders risked their lives to $6.2B Insurance & Annuity Benefits Paid save others. People around the country joined the fight for racial justice, demanding change with an urgency not seen $28.6B Total Adjusted Capital sincethecivilrightsmovement.Andweallfoundnewways to gather, work together, and be there for each other. At MassMutual, this same sense of Live Mutual guides all Even in the face of such disruption, MassMutual delivered our actions. As a business that operates for the benefit a year of strong results. Sales from our domestic insurance of our participating policyowners and members, we were and retirement operations grew 8 percent to $31 billion, there for those who relied on us at this difficult moment, which along with other factors, helped drive operating withoutevertakingoureyesoffthefuture.Inlookingback earnings to $2.6 billion. Our sales momentum also enabled on the past year, I couldn’t be prouder of everything our us to grow the insurance protection in force we provide to team has done to help our customers, advance our strategy, $830 billion, while we also delivered more than $6.2 billion and strengthen our communities. in insurance and annuity benefits at the time when our customers needed us most. E O L E T T E R 3C 20733_MM_AR_TEXT.indd 3 3/30/21 10:38 AM And during a period of great uncertainty, our excellent flexibility to grow and strengthen our leadership position in financial strength and flexibility remained intact, as total the domestic insurance market as well as significantly invest adjusted capital grew to a year-end record of $28.6billion inourdigitalexperience.Weincreasedourownershipstake while we maintained ratings that are among the highest of in Rothesay, the largest specialist annuity provider in the any company in any industry.¹ This enabled us to approve U.K., which is expected to generate additional earnings to an estimated $1.7 billion dividend payout for 2021 to our fuel increased growth. eligible participating policyowners—the 153rd consecutive year we have paid a dividend.² And our evolution will continue into 2021, as we expect to close on our acquisition of Great American Life Insurance These numbers reflect more than a strong year in hard Company from its parent company, American Financial times.Theyreflectyearsofstrategicdecisionstomakeour Group, Inc., in the second quarter of this year, pending foundation stronger, our solutions more accessible, and our customary regulatory approvals. This transaction will customer experience more seamless. It’s how we met this broaden our lifetime income offerings and allow us to reach challenging moment—while also setting the stage for an more people while also providing another diversified source even brighter future. of earnings to deliver long-term value to our policyowners. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve offered both compassion and practical solutions to our customers to help them As all these efforts demonstrate, complacency isn’t an manage through the financial challenges caused by Delivering Today, Evolving for the Future option. In a world that changes quickly, we’re committed to COVID-19—from giving them more time to pay premiums, First, we were ready for this crisis because we’ve invested constantly changing with it—strengthening what has made to helping them access hardship funds from their retirement in one of our most important drivers of success: our us successful while investing for the future. It’s how we plans quickly and easily. We also supported our employees nationwide network of financial professionals. While other continue to have an immediate impact for our customers by offering 80 extra hours of time off for COVID-19– companies have moved away from their agency models, todaywhileseekingtomaintainthelong-termperformance related needs, as well as online meditation, exercise, and we have strengthened and expanded ours. That means they’ll count on tomorrow. counseling programs. With these new resources and our agents were there to provide important guidance and greaterflexibility,wehelpedthemfocusontheirmentaland reassurance to our customers in 2020, just as they have physical well-being and balance their work and home lives, during numerous crises throughout our history. providing a sense of care and empathy at a time when it was sorely needed. Atthesametime,2020usheredinaneweraofrapiddigital “In a world that changes quickly, advancements in our world. We accelerated our own efforts we’re committed to constantly In addition, we helped our communities cope with the in this area at MassMutual, making significant progress virus, contributing to relief funds and donating personal on our journey to build a simpler, seamless experience. changing with it. ... It’s how we protectiveequipmenttoorganizationsinneed.Andtogive We enhanced our digital end-to-end platform that issues continue to have an immediate back in our own unique way to those sacrificing so much, life insurance coverage in a fraction of the time, ensuring we created HealthBridge, a free life insurance program that families could easily apply for and obtain coverage even at impact for our customers today aims to provide up to a total of $3 billion in protection to thepandemic’sheight.Weexpandedourmobilecapabilities while seeking to maintain the eligiblehealthcareworkersonthefrontlinesofCOVID-19.³ that allow people to better manage their accounts as well Thanks to years of digital investment, we were able to roll