MassMutual Buys Viability Advisory Group
As first reported in NAPA-Net , Hugh O’Toole, the former head of sales and service at MassMutual, sold his start-up, Viability Advisor Group, to his former employer. O’Toole left MassMutual in June 2014.
Viability AG has the potential to go the proverbial “last mile” by showing CFOs the potential liability of increased costs of employees not likely to be able to retire at 65 by using a company’s actual census data and conservative cost assumptions about healthcare, salary, absenteeism and disability costs. V-AG is the 1st company using actual data which is the only way a CFO will respond and start taking action to help employees increase income replacement ratios and reduce their company’s liabilities.
Using a baseball analogy, you don’t want to be the NY Yankees which seem to employ players at their highest salary and least productive stage of their career (CC Sabathia is a case in point) – you want to be the Kansas City Royals.
Why sell? O’Toole realized he needed not only the deep pockets of a provider, he also needed their distribution. His goal is to be disruptive in a positive way which many DCIOs are reluctant to do which is why a record keeper makes more sense. Unlike other software companies started by outsiders intent on disruption painting the industry in a negative light and then offering solutions to clean up the problem, O’Toole seems intent on moving the industry ahead with the right combination of industry insider and change agent. He’s staying on to run V-AG as a separate but wholly owned subsidiary of MassMutual.
For HR professionals, V-AG gives them ammunition to convince the CFO and CEO to pay more attention to their DC plan. For experienced plan advisor using behavioral finance plan design and next gen financial wellness moving the needle on retirement readiness, O’Toole’s company has the potential to show their value and distinguish them from blind squirrels and pretenders focused on fees, funds and fiduciary armed with pretty reports but with limited experience and capabilities.
