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Sustainability and Inclusion

MassMutual Is Building a Sustainable Future

At MassMutual, thinking and acting for the greater good is embedded in who we are. As a mutual company, we do business with the long-term interests of our customers and policyowners at the forefront of our mind. This focus on mutuality and longevity is fundamentally aligned with our commitment to sustainability, which means we can have big aspirations about how we can make an impact. Our vision to provide financial well-being for all Americans is not a goal we can accomplish tomorrow or achieve on our own, yet we are acting on it every single day to bring it closer to reality.

Elevating the Employee Experience with Holistic Resources

Mutuality is more than a business model, it’s also a guiding principle for how we attract and retain exceptional people, and help enable their highest potential every day. Our approach is simple and intentional — we design programs, experiences, and physical and digital environments that support the holistic well-being of our employees and the people they love. That way, they have the tools to thrive personally and professionally, both today and as business and life situations change over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened our focus on holistic well-being, shining a spotlight on the need for more and better mental health resources, the importance of connecting in-person, and the benefits of work-from-home flexibility. Today, our hybrid model offers the best of both worlds — including spectacular campus settings for employees to come together, innovate, and work through complex challenges.

By taking a holistic and equitable approach to benefits, we make it easy for all employees and their loved ones to elevate their mental, physical, and financial well-being.

MassMutual Sustainability Report

In 2022, we took the next step of communicating our efforts to internal and external stakeholders via our inaugural Sustainability Report. To learn about our ESG initiatives and culture in greater detail, please see the 2021 MassMutual Sustainability Report.

Our robust healthcare, retirement, and protection benefits provide a spectrum of support through all of life’s big moments — and, over the years, we’ve expanded our pioneering leave programs so employees can better care for themselves and the people they love, in joyous and challenging times. When it comes to our leading caregiver, bereavement, and other essential leaves, “loved ones” is inclusive of anyone the employee holds dear, and they can use time off when and how it’s most helpful to them.

Just like our workforce, we’re always evolving. In 2022, we expanded medical travel reimbursement, added programs to help with student loans and college savings, and announced a significant benefit expansion for 2023. This included a new digital wallet that reimburses employees up to $1,250 for a wide range of holistic well-being expenses, new mental and physical health solutions, and quadrupling paid time off for employees who are also caregivers to a loved one.

In 2022, our employees:

  • Earned $1.27M in well-being incentives
  • Invested 460,000 hours in skill-building through our learning platforms
  • Engaged in a company-wide digital upskilling program, with more than 5,500 completing the training by year-end

Supporting Stability and Responding to Global Events

Early in 2022, MassMutual joined the rest of the world in watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing impact on the people of Ukraine. We quickly committed to support humanitarian efforts that provide immediate relief as well as ongoing support to those affected by this crisis. We pledged $1 million to three organizations, the International Rescue Committee, the American Red Cross, and Team Rubicon, each of which has the well-established infrastructure and stability to distribute funds equitably and in a timely manner.

Ensuring our business thrives in a rapidly changing environment also means investing in people’s careers to amplify agility and innovation. Offered in person, virtually, and via online platforms, major learning initiatives in 2022 focused on digital upskilling (company-wide), our business, diversity education, and what it means to be a transformational leader.

Connecting Our Employees to a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At MassMutual, we believe that business plays an important role in addressing economic inequities in our society. Our country is growing more diverse, as more than 50 percent of Americans under 18 identify as non-white, and Hispanics account for half of America’s population growth in the last decade. At MassMutual, we are driven to ensure we’re doing the best for our clients, workforce, and our communities. This includes being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive company that continues to challenge itself and improve.

Today, more than half of MassMutual’s Board of Directors are women or people of color, making us one of the most diverse boards among Fortune 500 companies.4 We were also among the first in our industry to publicly share our progress against our DEI goals in our inaugural 2021 Sustainability Report. MassMutual’s eight business resource groups (BRGs), representing over one-third of our employee base, are instrumental in fostering a culture where every employee feels like they belong. We continue to increase member engagement by providing safe spaces to have conversations about potentially polarizing topics and work to understand those who may have differing viewpoints.

MassMutual Business Resource Groups

MassMutual’s eight BRGs drive organizational results, increase employee engagement, and foster awareness, respect, and inclusion within the workplace. More than 30 percent of our employees participate in MassMutual BRGs, which are open to all employees.

Investing to Make an Impact

MassMutual’s commitment to impact investing aligns directly with our corporate values and purpose. By adding an impact lens to our investment process, we can evaluate both our investment and real-world outcomes. MassMutual’s ESG Investment Policy outlines the philosophy and factors that we review as part of the asset allocation process and in selecting investments and investment managers. Only 1.3 percent of the total venture dollars raised by U.S. companies went to Black founders in 2021.23 And while venture capitalists invested a record $34.8 billion in startups in Massachusetts, only 0.4 percent went to startups with Black founders.24 Yet, diverse-owned private equity firms continue to outperform their benchmarks, according to a study by the National Association of Investment Companies, the largest organization of diverse-owned alternative investment firms. MassMutual sees tremendous opportunity in companies and funds that have been overlooked due to systemic barriers. Through impact investing, MassMutual is building innovative approaches and alternatives in deal sourcing, selection, diligence, and underwriting to identify high-potential investments that are also reducing structural inequities and advancing racial equity.

In 2022, MassMutual dedicated an additional $100 million to continue investing in diverse, first-time fund managers through our First Fund Initiative, building on the $50 million we previously invested through this impact investing initiative. The First Fund Initiative is focused on funds led by Black, Latino, and Indigenous fund managers with a differentiated investment thesis to generate positive social impact and financial returns.

MassMutual has invested in seven funds led by diverse, first-time fund managers across the U.S. through the First Fund Initiative since 2021 — including our most recent investments in Impact America Fund, a venture fund that backs early-stage companies to increase the economic power of marginalized communities, and L’Attitude Ventures, a venture fund that exclusively invests in Latino-owned, early-stage companies with high growth potential.

In addition to the First Fund Initiative, MassMutual marked the first anniversary of the $50 million MassMutual Catalyst Fund (MMCF) in 2022, bringing our total impact investment commitment to $200 million. This fund makes direct investments in Black-led businesses based in our home state of Massachusetts, as well as businesses based outside Boston to fuel innovation across the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MMCF has backed 15 companies across a range of industries.

Earning Recognition as Honoree to The Civic 50

As a purpose-driven organization, MassMutual helps people secure their future and protect the ones they love. That gives life and energy to our vision: to provide financial well-being for all Americans. Our purpose and vision are, therefore, inherently sustainability-minded and position MassMutual well for corporate leadership and commitment to civic engagement — critical for strengthening communities. In 2022, our efforts were recognized by Points of Light, the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to accelerating people-powered change, which named MassMutual to The Civic 50, a list of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States. MassMutual is proud and honored to receive this recognition of our enduring commitment to working toward the success of all our stakeholders.

Impact investing reached $200M in 2022

Supporting the Community

MassMutual and the MassMutual Foundation provide millions of dollars in support of social causes in the U.S. — with a focus on our hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, as well as Boston — addressing education, financial wellness, economic development, and entrepreneurship, among others. Our programs leverage our employee talent and business assets to amplify the impact we make. For example, to address financial well-being, MassMutual works in multiple ways with one partner organization, the Western New England University School of Law’s Center for Social Justice (CSJ). CSJ received a MassMutual Foundation grant to fund a legal kiosk program in Springfield, and partners extensively with the MassMutual Law Division’s pro bono program to provide thousands of hours of free legal service to people facing evictions, veterans, and immigrants, among many others. Additionally, employee volunteerism also remains a core value of our company, with 1,700 hours volunteered in 2022 through company-sponsored initiatives and $2 million in matched employee donations. MassMutual is proud of existing partnerships and programs that drive transformational change in our communities.

MassMutual employees volunteered 1,700 hours this year in service of their communities.

As MassMutual makes progress in diversifying our own workforce and creating an inclusive culture, we also continuously challenge ourselves to reach beyond our own walls and into the communities to further support a sense of belonging. In 2022, we did just that with a $2.5 million, five-year commitment to the American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality, one of the American College of Financial Services’ Centers of Excellence. This $500,000 annual commitment will help support the Center’s mission in promoting upward mobility and wealth building for underserved communities. MassMutual also made significant progress toward honoring our commitment to spend $150 million with underrepresented diverse suppliers, and in 2022 the company experienced 18 percent year-over-year growth.

National Programs that Support Youth Education

FutureSmartSM

a financial literacy program for middle and high schoolers, their families, and their educators25

LifeBridge

a free life insurance program that helps parents protect their dream of providing an education for their children26

Committed to Net Zero Emissions

In 2021, we announced a commitment to achieve net zero emissions in MassMutual’s operations by 2030 and in our investment portfolio by 2050, making us the first U.S.-based mutual insurance company to set such a goal. We are backing our commitment with rigorous plans and a pledge to be transparent about our progress. Since announcing our commitment, we have made significant progress toward the development of our financed emissions inventory, which will serve as the foundation for achieving net zero by 2050.

Our multiyear roadmap — along with a near-term action plan that includes a clear timeline, deliverables, and ownership — lays out our strategy for fulfilling this ambition. MassMutual’s approach to carbon management is to measure our impact, reduce emissions wherever possible, and work toward net zero.

Generating Economic Impact in Western Massachusetts

At MassMutual, we are keenly aware of the economic challenges we all face — from supply chain disruptions and high levels of inflation to volatility in the finanzcial markets, among many other headwinds. That’s why we are more determined than ever to use our expertise to stimulate economic opportunity, growth, and financial resiliency for all Americans, regardless of where they live. We also recognize that this determination begins at home, with MassMutual’s long history in the Commonwealth.

We know that strong community connections translate into future strength and stability, and we are more committed than ever to help build pathways to success in our home communities. For example, the City of Homes project, led by Way Finders, is an innovative program that will restore distressed or abandoned properties and sell them to qualified, first-time homebuyers. The MassMutual Foundation’s $2 million grant will fund the pilot program, which will create homeownership opportunities in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Springfield and make stability and generational wealth more accessible in underinvested neighborhoods.

Another recent $1.5 million investment by the MassMutual Foundation was made in support of New North Citizens’ Council’s Barbara Rivera Community Center in Springfield, where many different community-focused activities and services will take place.

In partnership with the Trustees of Reservations in Boston, MassMutual joined other local businesses to prepare Boston’s vulnerable waterfront for the future. With a $1 million investment in the future Piers Park III in East Boston, we are helping to provide beautiful, open, and accessible spaces for residents and visitors to enjoy while improving the area’s climate resiliency for future generations.

“For more than a century, we’ve been invited into many of the same homes, served many of the same families, and helped expand opportunities for many. We are thrilled to partner with an organization that shares the same enduring sense of interdependence, teamwork, and community.”

Roger Crandall
Chairman, President,
and CEO, MassMutual

Two Iconic Brands, One Goal: MassMutual’s Historic Partnership with the Boston Red Sox

Consistent with our commitment to our community and in celebration of our deep Massachusetts roots, MassMutual and the Boston Red Sox were excited to announce a 10‑year signature partnership in November of 2022. Our shared goal of creating positive impact on the communities in which we have been deeply engrained for a combined three centuries is the solid foundation on which this long-term partnership is based. MassMutual will become the first official jersey patch partner of a Major League Baseball team and will have prominent brand presence in historic Fenway Park, in addition to digital presence on both brands’ platforms. The partnership will help deepen MassMutual’s existing customer relationships and amplify both organizations’ commitment to youth, education, and inclusion. Like MassMutual, the Red Sox organization is a resilient, respected, and successful Massachusetts brand rooted in values of interdependence and rich history of giving back to the community.

  1. From FORTUNE. ©2022 FORTUNE Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. FORTUNE 500 (May 2022) is a registered trademark of FORTUNE Media IP Limited and is used under license. FORTUNE and FORTUNE Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, MassMutual.
  2. Funding To Black Startup Founders Quadrupled In Past Year, But Remains Elusive, Crunchbase News, July 13, 2021.
  3. In Massachusetts, biased decisions leave Black startup founders with less capital, The Boston Globe, Updated January 27, 2022.
  4. FutureSmartSM, MassMutual Foundation.
  5. LifeBridgeSM, MassMutual, 2023.