This week in charts
Global equity returns by source
AI relationships
European and U.S. manager fund performance
U.S. active manager holdings
Robin Hood Investor Index
Contribution to returns: U.S. tech & European sectors
Small-cap vs. Large-cap
Gold vs. oil
Materials equity fund flows
AI companies market value of the S&P 500 Index
Mag7 free cash flow and earnings
Investment grade debt tied to AI
Data center Capex deployment
Regulators Are Investigating MassMutual’s Accounting Practices
U.S. regulators are investigating Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, a major U.S. insurer and asset manager, over accounting practices in its investment operations, people familiar with the matter said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been gathering information, including through subpoenas it issued, about MassMutual’s bookkeeping around income on billions of dollars of loans it holds in its general investment account, the people said.
The SEC is investigating whether MassMutual properly reconciled accrued interest as it received payments on loans held in its general investment account, the people familiar with the matter said. The agency is trying to determine whether its accruals are overstated.
The investigation isn’t complete and may not result in any formal allegations of wrongdoing.
Founded in 1851, MassMutual today is one of the country’s largest providers of life-insurance policies and annuities. It counts more than four million customers and sold more than $41 billion of insurance and annuities last year. The total volume of MassMutual life-insurance protection in force topped $1 trillion at the end of 2024.
MassMutual is owned by its policyholders, and its shares don’t trade publicly. The company is, however, a regular issuer of corporate notes and debt, which are held by a wide universe of investors who depend on the company’s financial statements to make decisions.
Life insurers have traditionally invested policyholders’ premiums in government bonds and other safe securities to generate returns and afford benefit payouts. More recently, they have increased their exposure to higher-yielding but more illiquid forms of private credit and nonbank lending, from commercial mortgage loans to financing other investment firms.
MassMutual’s experience highlights the complexity of managing those investments. Among the $285 billion in invested assets it held at the end of 2024 are tens of billions of dollars of mortgage loans and more bespoke financings originated by Barings, its wholly owned asset-management subsidiary.
Insurers book as an asset the accrued interest income they are due from performing loans that is owed but that hasn’t been paid yet. When interest payments on those loans arrive in a given month or quarter, accounting rules dictate that the asset value of the accrued investment income should decrease and the insurer’s cash account should increase.
MassMutual’s life-insurance operations reported $4.5 billion in investment income that is due and accrued at the end of June. That represented about 16% of its $28 billion in capital, or surplus.
This week’s fun finds
So much to be thankful for, especially our fellow partners. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Secret food critic finally reveals his identity after 25 years of terrorizing restaurants
A veteran food critic who took extreme measures to preserve his anonymity is finally ripping off the mask as he steps down from his role.
The Washington Post's Tom Sietsema sported everything from fat suits to fake teeth in a bid to keep his identity top secret.
Sietsema's columns and social media have been notable devoid of his likeness since he took up the role in 2000.
During that time he has penned more than 1,200 full restaurant reviews and dined at roughly 10 establishments per week.
He hoped that by maintaining anonymity, he would be able to get an authentic restaurant experience and not one geared towards a celebrity critic.
But in his final column, he revealed the enormous challenge of maintaining a secret identity in today's world.
