MassMutual approves record $1.49B dividend payout
Fernando López, general agent of MassMutual Puerto Rico
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) recently announced that its Board of Directors has approved the company’s largest dividend payout ever in the company’s history for 2014: a payout estimated at $1.49 billion to eligible participating policyowners.
The dividends to be paid in 2014 reflect a dividend interest rate of 7.10 percent for eligible participating permanent life and annuity blocks of business, an increase over last year’s rate of 7.00 percent.
“As a mutual life insurance company, MassMutual operates for the benefit of our participating policyowners and members, and we manage our business with their long-term interests in mind,” said MassMutual Chairman Roger Crandall. “One of the most tangible measures of our commitment to this philosophy is through our strategy to pay out a dividend each year.”
“Our record estimated dividend in 2014 underscores the ongoing value of the strength and stability MassMutual provides, and is the result of the success and soundness of the company’s financial strength, operating fundamentals and long-term investment strategy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fernando López, general agent of MassMutual Puerto Rico, said approving a record dividend payment in challenging economic times is “a testament to the reliability of our business strategy and the value we offer as a mutual entity that is run for the benefit of its members and the owners of participating policies.”
The approved estimated payout of $1.49 billion represents an increase of $101 million — or approximately 7.3 percent — from the 2013 estimated payout and reflects updated investment, mortality, morbidity, expense and other experience, the company said.
Of the total $1.49 billion dividend payout, an estimated $1.47 billion has been approved for eligible participating policyowners who have purchased whole life insurance, the company’s core product. More than 99 percent of eligible participating life policies will receive a dividend in 2014 that is the same or higher than they received in 2013.
