MassMutual Earns A "Big 8" 2013 Lipper Funds Award for Best Mixed-Asset Small Company Fund Group

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- MassMutual's Retirement Services Division took home one of the "big 8" 2013 Lipper U.S. Fund Awards for Excellence at an event held at Cipriani in New York on March 14.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130315/NE77951 )

MassMutual garnered the top award for the Best Mixed-Asset Small Company Fund Group, ranking #1 out of 37 eligible contenders. The MassMutual RetireSMART(SM) Target Date Funds Series and MassMutual Premier Balanced Fund, Class S (MBLDX) were the MassMutual Funds that drove the win in the category. Currently, more than 900 retirement plans have chosen to offer the MassMutual RetireSMART Target Date Fund Series.

MassMutual Select Overseas Fund, Class S (MOSSX), was also named a winner in the Lipper International Large-Cap Core Funds category for the 5-year period. Currently, more than 450 retirement plans on MassMutual's platform have chosen to offer MassMutual Select Overseas Fund as an investment option.

"The MassMutual Funds rely on multiple managers and include a wide variety of investment choices to meet the needs of retirement plan participants and the retirement plan sponsors and advisors who support them. The Lipper Fund Awards are a testament to MassMutual's commitment and winning results," says Eric Wietsma, senior vice president and head of investment services for MassMutual's Retirement Services Division.

"The Funds in the RetireSMART Target Date Series reflect the depth and strength of the MassMutual Funds," says Bruce Picard, CFA, portfolio manager of the MassMutual RetireSMART Funds. "Our strategies emphasize consistency by design, and these Lipper Fund Awards demonstrate the value of MassMutual's approach to helping participants retire on their own terms."

The Lipper Fund Awards honor mutual funds, hedge funds, and fund management firms for delivering stronger and more consistent performance than peers. Lipper uses its proprietary quantitative fund rating methodology to determine winners.

The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards that celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community. For purposes related to the awards, small company fund groups are defined as those with less than $43.5 billion in assets under management as of October 31, 2012.

The 2013 Lipper U.S. Fund Awards winners were selected using the Lipper Leader rating for consistent return for funds with at least 36 months of performance history as of the end of the evaluation year. The best average decile rank of the consistent return measure of the eligible funds per asset class and group determines the award winner over the three-year period. All rankings are for the three-year period ended November 30, 2012. The award-winning funds are chosen from more than 5,000 funds and 16,000 share classes within the U.S. open-end universe. Awards are presented for the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return within each eligible classification over 3, 5 or 10 years.

MassMutual serves approximately 3 million participants. To learn more about MassMutual Retirement Services or MassMutual Funds, please contact your retirement plan professional or call MassMutual at 1-866-444-2601, www.massmutual.com/retire.

About MassMutual
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 consistently 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) 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, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has been serving retirement plans for more than 65 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 3 million participants.

For more information, visit www.massmutual.com or find MassMutual on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+. For information regarding MassMutual's Retirement Services Division, you may also visit massmutual.com/retire or find us on Facebook.com/RetireSmart and YouTube.com/RetireSmart.

Copyright ©2013 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and affiliates, Springfield, MA 01111-0001. All rights reserved.

About the Lipper Fund Awards

The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards that celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community. The Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence also include the Extel Survey Awards, the StarMine Analyst Awards, and the StarMine Broker Rankings. For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit excellence.thomsonreuters.com.

Contact: Lisa Reilly
413-744-0589
[email protected]

SOURCE MassMutual Retirement Services