The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), headquartered in Springfield, Mass., has hired Mark Cover to head its defined contribution investment only (DCIO) field sales channel.
Cover will be responsible for the expansion of sales, marketing, operations and other functions to support the fund complex. He will report to Aruna Hobbs, head of institutional investments for MassMutual’s Institutional Solutions business.
Before joining MassMutual, Cover served as head of DCIO field sales for T. Rowe Price, where he managed the external wholesaling team supporting financial advisors focused on retirement plans. Cover has a B.A. degree in actuarial sciences from Bryant University.
The MassMutual fund family currently offers more than 30 mutual funds across a broad range of asset classes and investment styles. Since 2015, the funds in the DCIO market have seen strong asset growth of nearly 40 percent compounded annually as financial advisors and retirement plan sponsors have gravitated toward the multi-manager sub-advised family of mutual funds designed specifically for retirement plans. Cover and an expanding team of wholesalers will be responsible for continuing that sales momentum.
In addition to the strategic hire of Cover, MassMutual also recently appointed Andy Cunningham as DCIO managing director for the southern region. Cunningham previously worked as a DCIO wholesaler at Columbia Threadneedle and at Franklin Templeton.