MassMutual promotes three to senior vice president positions

Date: 11/7/2014

SPRINGFIELD – Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has announced the following executive promotions to senior vice president:

Susan Cicco, office of the CEO. Cicco is senior vice president, chief of staff to Roger W. Crandall, chairman, president and CEO of MassMutual, and is now also head of a newly formed strategic communications team, comprising internal communications, media relations and executive communications. She reports to Crandall and is a member of the company’s executive leadership team.

Previously at MassMutual, Cicco served as vice president and head of internal communications, as chief of staff to the head of the insurance business, as well as an analyst in the corporate development area.

Cicco joined MassMutual in 1993 and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Bryant College with a concentration in business administration and actuarial mathematics. Cicco resides in East Longmeadow.

Susan Garrett, Human Resources (HR). Garrett is senior vice president, human resources business consulting. She leads MassMutual’s HR business partner organization and directly supports the company’s retirement services business. She reports to Debra Palermino, executive vice president, Human Resources.

Garrett joined MassMutual in 2013 from The Hartford, where she spent 16 years, most recently as a senior vice president in Human Resources for the wealth management business. Previously, she was employed for 12 years at CIGNA, where she worked in a variety of HR leadership positions.

Garett received her Masters of Business Administration degree in organizational behavior from The Wharton School of Business and her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Delaware. She resides in Simsbury, CT.

Gareth Ross, U.S. Insurance Group. Ross is senior vice president, advanced business analytics and data science, and is now also charged with expanding the company’s middle market strategy. He reports to Mike Fanning, executive vice president of MassMutual’s U.S. Insurance Group.

Previously at MassMutual, Ross was a vice president in the sales and distribution strategy, financial planning and analysis, and strategy divisions at the company. 

Prior to joining MassMutual in 2008, Ross was a senior vice president of financial planning and analysis at Capmark Financial, a senior financial analyst at General Motors, and held other senior financial analysis, management consulting and business analyst positions at the New York Treasurer’s office, the Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, the World Bank, Fidelity Investments, and Deloitte Consulting.

Ross received his Masters of Business Administration degree in finance and accounting and his Masters in international studies from The Wharton School and The Joseph Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

He received his Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts degree in finance and Mandarin Chinese from Washington University. Ross resides in Amherst.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyowners consistently since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company’s strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term.

For more information, visit www.massmutual.com.