Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (MassMutual) is examining the possibility of entering into a reinsurance agreement aimed at decreasing its life insurance reserves, reports Bloomberg.  

Initial contacts with potential reinsurers have been made, with discussions focusing on the company’s universal life insurance with secondary guarantees.  

This line of business accounted for approximately $6.7bn in reserves at the end of 2024. 

A successful agreement is expected to potentially release reserves of more than $5bn. 

However, as the talks are in the initial stages, there is a possibility that MassMutual may choose not to proceed with the transaction. 

The company has chosen not to provide comments on these preliminary talks. 

In a statement, the company said: “MassMutual proactively manages our business to ensure we deliver value to our policyowners over the long term. Like many insurers, we regularly seek opportunities to optimise our use of reinsurance to support our growth and efficiently manage risk.” 

US life insurers are turning to reinsurance arrangements, the news publication noted.  

This year has already seen reinsurance deals in the sector, with Equitable Holdings transferring $32bn of reserves to Reinsurance Group of America, and MetLife reallocating $10bn of variable annuities and rider reserves to Talcott Financial Group. 

In April 2025, MassMutual integrated Benefit Harbor into its suite of technology platforms for enrolment, to support voluntary employee benefits.  

Benefit Harbor introduced an all-in-one platform for enrolment and benefits administration.  

Notably, its Workday Certified API Integration provided MassMutual with the capability for real-time, enterprise-level access, facilitating the integration of group whole life insurance into Workday cases.