MassMutual was founded on May 15, 1851. And from the beginning, we’ve had a single purpose: to help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. More than 160 years later, that commitment remains our guiding principle. It’s behind everything we do and every decision we make. It’s how we continue to deliver products and services to help our policyowners and customers achieve their financial goals, and protect those who matter most.

MassMutual is a mutual company. That means we don’t have shareholders. Instead, our members and participating policy owners are often described as sharing in our ownership. This generally means that, if you’re insured under one of MassMutual’s individual, participating whole life insurance policies, for example, you are a member entitled to vote for our Board of Directors. And if you own that participating policy, you may be eligible to share in any dividends we may declare.

As a mutual company, we operate for the benefit of our members and participating policyowners. We manage the company with a focus on their long-term interests and are not subject to the expectations of Wall Street analysts or stockholders. Throughout our history, this focus on the long-term has helped us provide financial and retirement security to millions of people. And while they're not guaranteed, we've consistently paid dividends to eligible participating policyowners since the 1860s. Our success is reflected in our financial strength ratings1, which are among the highest of any company in any industry.