Great-West Lifeco subsidiary, Empower Retirement, closes acquisition of retirement business of MassMutual

TSX:GWO

WINNIPEG, MB, Jan. 4, 2021 /CNW/ - Great-West Lifeco Inc. today announced its Colorado-based subsidiary, Empower Retirement (Empower), has completed the previously announced acquisition of the retirement services business of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual).

With completion of the acquisition, Empower's reach in the U.S. is expanded to more than 12 million retirement plan participants and assets to approximately US$884 billion on behalf of approximately 67,000 workplace savings plans.¹

"This transaction is an excellent strategic fit and directly aligns with Lifeco's long-term plans for growth in the U.S. retirement market," said Paul Mahon, President and CEO, Great-West Lifeco. "It increases our scale advantages and strengthens Empower's position as the second largest player in this growing segment of the U.S. market. It also positions Empower as a growth engine and significant contributor to Great-West Lifeco's value creation objectives."

The MassMutual retirement services business comprises more than 26,000 plans with approximately 2.6 million participants and US$174 billion in assets.² With strong margins and earnings profile, it includes diversified capabilities across all plan types with significant presence in the highly attractive small-medium corporate market segment.

For additional details on the transaction, please refer to the news release dated September 8, 2020.

About Empower Retirement
Headquartered in metro Denver, Empower Retirement administers approximately US$710 billion in assets for more than 9.4 million retirement plan participants as of September 30, 2020.³ It is the nation's second-largest retirement plan recordkeeper by total participants.⁴ Empower serves all segments of the employer-sponsored retirement plan market: government 457 plans; small, midsize and large corporate 401(k) clients; non-profit 403 (b) entities; private-label recordkeeping clients; and IRA customers. Personal Capital, a subsidiary of Empower Retirement, is an industry-leading hybrid wealth manager. For more information please visit empower-retirement.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About MassMutual
MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. Founded in 1851, the company has been continually guided by one consistent purpose: we help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. MassMutual offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, annuities, retirement plans and other employee benefits. For more information, visit  massmutual.com.

About Great-West Lifeco
Great-West Lifeco Inc. is an international financial services holding company with interests in life insurance, health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management and reinsurance businesses. We operate in Canada, the United States and Europe under the brands Canada Life, Empower Retirement, Putnam Investments, and Irish Life.

At the end of 2019, our companies had approximately 24,000 employees, 197,000 advisor relationships, and thousands of distribution partners – all serving our more than 31 million customer relationships across these regions. Great-West Lifeco and its companies have $1.7 trillion in consolidated assets under administration as of September 30, 2020 and are members of the Power Corporation group of companies. Great-West Lifeco trades on the Toronto (TSX) Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GWO. To learn more, visit greatwestlifeco.com.

Cautionary note regarding Forward-Looking Information
This release may contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates" and other similar expressions or negative versions thereof. These statements include, without limitation, statements about Lifeco's strategy and growth prospects and the expected benefits of the acquisition of the MassMutual retirement services business (including scale advantages and value creation). Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, forecasts, estimates, predictions, projections and conclusions about future events that were current at the time of the statements and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about Lifeco, economic factors and the financial services industry generally, including the insurance and mutual fund industries. They are not guarantees of future performance, and the reader is cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Whether or not actual results differ from forward-looking information contained herein may depend on numerous factors, developments and assumptions, including, without limitation, customer behaviour, Lifeco's reputation, market prices for products provided, sales levels, premium income, fee income, expense levels, mortality experience, morbidity experience, policy lapse rates, reinsurance arrangements, liquidity requirements, capital requirements, credit ratings, taxes, inflation, interest and foreign exchange rates, investment values, hedging activities, global equity and capital markets (including continued access to equity and debt markets), industry sector and individual debt issuers' financial conditions (including developments and volatility arising from the current pandemic health event resulting from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), particularly in certain industries that may comprise part of Lifeco's investment portfolio), business competition and other general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Lifeco and there is no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Other important factors and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements include customer responses to new products, impairments of goodwill and other intangible assets, Lifeco's ability to execute strategic plans and changes to strategic plans, technological changes, breaches or failure of information systems and security (including cyber attacks), payments required under investment products, changes in local and international laws and regulations, changes in accounting policies and the effect of applying future accounting policy changes, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, catastrophic events, continuity and availability of personnel and third party service providers, Lifeco's ability to complete strategic transactions and integrate acquisitions, unplanned material changes to Lifeco's facilities, customer and employee relations or credit arrangements, levels of administrative and operational efficiencies, and the severity, magnitude and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effects of governments' and other businesses' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, on the economy and Lifeco's financial results, financial condition and operations). The reader is cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions and factors is not exhaustive, and there may be other factors listed in other filings with securities regulators, including factors set out in Lifeco's annual information form dated February 12, 2020 under "Risk Factors" and Lifeco's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 under "Risk Management and Control Practices" and "Summary of Critical Accounting Estimates", which, along with other filings, is available for review at www.sedar.com. The reader is also cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Other than as specifically required by applicable law, Lifeco does not intend to update any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1) Estimated joint assets under administration of Empower Retirement and MassMutual.

2) As of Sept. 30, 2020, Source: MassMutual.

3) As of September 30, 2020. Information refers to the business of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, including Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York and GWFS Equities, Inc. GWLA's consolidated total assets under administration (AUA) were US$709.9B. AUA is a non-GAAP measure and does not reflect the financial stability or strength of a company. GWLA's statutory assets total US$54.8B and liabilities total US$51.8B. GWLANY statutory assets total US$1.69B and liabilities total US$1.57B.

4) Pensions & Investments 2020 Defined Contribution Survey Ranking as of April 2020.

SOURCE Great-West Lifeco Inc.

Media Relations: Liz Kulyk, 204-391-8515, [email protected]; Investor Relations: Deirdre Neary, 647-328-2134, [email protected]