Page 25 - Demo CEOs of the Fortune 500

• Michael O'Connor will become General Counsel of MassMutual. O'Connor will provide leadership across all legal, compliance, government relations and corporate governance matters. Additionally, he will be responsible for administration of the internal audit and corporate compliance functions. O'Connor joined MassMutual in 2005, and in 2008, assumed responsibility for the Corporate Law and Government Relations team. Since that time he has led MassMutual's corporate development function, served as President of MassMutual's international insurance businesses and – most recently – led the work associated with last year's MetLife Premier Client Group acquisition and integration.
• Eddie Ahmed has been named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MassMutual International LLC and will be based in Asia. Ahmed, who joined MassMutual in 2015 as head of Human Resources, has more than 20 years of global financial services and leadership experience. Before coming to MassMutual, he served with Citigroup, Inc., where he was Managing Director and Head of Human Resources for Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as the Global Head of Recruitment for the firm. Ahmed began his career at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley in New York, Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong.
• Susan Cicco will succeed Ahmed as Chief Human Resources Officer, providing leadership across all employee matters, including compensation and benefits, diversity and inclusion, as well as talent recruiting, development and learning. She will also continue to be responsible for employee communications and media relations. During her nearly 25 years at MassMutual, Cicco has served within insurance operations, strategy and corporate development, the financial products business and, most recently, as Chief of Staff to the CEO and head of communications.
• In addition to these changes, Michael Fanning, Head of MassMutual US, announced that Teresa Hassara has been named to head the company's Workplace Solutions business, which partners with intermediaries to deliver workplace benefits – from retirement plans to voluntary protection offerings – through employers across the country. Hassara comes to MassMutual from TIAA, where she was President of the Institutional Retirement Business and a member of its Corporate Executive Management Team, managing more than half a trillion dollars in retirement plan assets. Hassara, who will report directly to Fanning, succeeds Eric Wietsma in her new role. Wietsma will continue as part of Fanning's leadership team as head of MassMutual's Retirement Operations organization.
• Expand Footprint in the U.S.: Crandall said he’s considering expansion of money-management operations after reaching a deal this year to acquire a network of almost 4,000 financial advisers from MetLife Inc., according to a September 2016 Bloomberg article. "On the asset management side, we’re constantly looking at things," Crandall said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.... Crandall has been reshaping the Springfield, Massachusetts-based insurer, combining units including a real estate advisory firm under the Barings brand this year and appointing Tom Finke to lead that group. Another MassMutual unit, OppenheimerFunds, struck a deal in 2015 to purchase VTL Associates LLC, pushing into smart-beta exchange-traded funds. And Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers announced an agreement this year to buy ACRE Capital Holdings LLC in a bet on multifamily loans. The MetLife transaction helped policyholder-owned MassMutual gain more distribution, particularly on the U.S. East Coast and mid-Atlantic region. "It was a big increase," Crandall said. "It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t happen all that often, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to do it. It happened quickly and we’re in the midst of putting that together right now, but so far, so good. Off to a good start.”
• Organizational Restructuring: MassMutual in April 2016 announced a newly aligned organization it says is "better positioned to meet customers’ evolving needs and seize new market opportunities
Copyright 2017 Boardroom Insiders www.boardroominsiders.com
25