MassMutual to Launch $100 Million Venture Capital Firm
July 28, 2014 by Jeff Jeffrey
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. is set to launch a $100 million corporate venture capital firm, the company said.
The company said MassMutual Ventures will focus on investments in financial technology, consumer internet, digital health and cyber security.
The company has tapped Doug Russell, MassMutual’s senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, to manage the new venture capital firm.
Russell will be joined by Eric Emmons, who previously served as the head of Siemens Venture Capital North America. Also joining the new firm will be Mark Goodman, who the company said has founded and managed two technology-focused venture capital funds, Terawatt Ventures and Brookline Ventures.
MassMutual Ventures will be based in Boston.
“By actively investing in those businesses that are innovating and leading change in our industries, MassMutual will gain valuable insight into new technologies and business models that will ultimately benefit our policyowners and customers,” said Russell. “MMV enables MassMutual to build meaningful and long-term relationships with these potential business partners, and to keep abreast of the rapid technological changes affecting our industries.”
Efforts to reach MassMutual for additional comment were not immediately successful.
Private equity is taking on a larger role in the life insurance industry.
Last October, private equity-backed Athene Holding Ltd., based in Bermuda, completed its acquisition of Aviva USA Corp. for about $1.55 billion. Aviva USA then became known as Athene USA. The deal included Aviva Life and Annuity Co. and Aviva Life and Annuity Company of New York. Athene Holding is owned by several institutional investors, with its largest shareholder being AP Alternative Assets, which is managed by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm.
These deals have come with their share of regulatory scrutiny, however. Last summer, Apollo Global agreed to the New York Department of Financial Services’s new policyholder protections as part of Athene Holding’s buy of Aviva Life and Annuity of New York. The pact with New York made it the second company to agree to the safeguards, Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky said in a statement at that time. The department sought the extra protections because it highlighted a spike in private equity firms and other investment companies moving into the annuity business, a worrisome trend because those firms have business models that are more oriented for the short-term than traditional insurers
(By Jeff Jeffrey, Washington Bureau manager: jeff.jeffrey@ambest.com)
