MassMutual's Plan Data Shows Participants 'Highly Engaged'
SPRINGFIELD, MA, October 26, 2009 -- MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has just released data indicating that participants in retirement plans administered by MassMutual are highly engaged in planning and saving for retirement.
All three key participant contact measures have increased in Q3 vs. Q2, including call center activity (+12%), visits to MassMutual's participant website (+7%), as well as activity on the company's RetireSmart™ Academy educational website (+51%). Visitors to the RetireSmart Academy are most interested in topics related to asset allocation, Social Security and Medicare. "Clearly, participants are using the many educational resources MassMutual provides to help them determine what they will need to retire successfully," says Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual's Retirement Services Division and chairman and CEO of MassMutual International LLC.
While loan initiations increased in the third quarter, the percentage of participants who actually took a loan was only 2.2% overall. According to MassMutual's call center data, participants are more vigilant about their retirement accounts and many are better versed on plan features, demonstrating increased attention to retirement planning in general.
"Indications are that participants who are actually taking loans or withdrawals from their retirement accounts are doing so to pay off higher-interest debt such as credit cards and bank loans," adds Sarsynski. "We are receiving inquiries from long-term plan participants who are calling us for the first time ever. Despite the fact that we believe the difficult economy is driving participants to pay closer attention, participant engagement is a desired behavior," she adds.
In addition to displaying increased attention to their retirement plan accounts in general, MassMutual participants are showing continued confidence in the stock market. Participant assets continue to migrate back into equities. In Q3, the greatest proportion of MassMutual's participant assets (42%) was in equities vs. Q2 (38%). Asset allocation options account for approximately 21% of total assets, while assets in stable value investments declined to 28% vs. 32% in Q2.
MassMutual's average participant balance has increased by approximately 11% this quarter and 20% YTD. Among plans that provide participant deferral data to MassMutual, more than 93% of participants made no changes to their savings rate in the third quarter 2009. The percentage of participants who increased their savings rate (2.44%) was twice as high as those who decreased their deferral rate (1.25%), and among those who increased their deferral, the average savings rate increased from 6.15% to 10.46%.
MassMutual's data covers approximately one million participants across more than 6,000 plans.
"Participants have a heightened interest in all matters related to retirement and we will continue to add fresh content to our RetireSmart Academy educational website to assist them," says Heather Smiley, chief marketing officer, MassMutual Retirement Services Division. "The next phase of educational content will expand on the importance of diversification and retirement income planning. We want to nurture this positive trend of participant engagement."
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. For more information, visit massmutual.com.
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