EXCLUSIVE Michael Makar, MassMutual Romania: Financial services companies that thrive in the future will definitely be tech-driven

  • January 28, 2022
  • Future Banking
  • 2 min read

In August 2020, Mass Mutual opened its first office in Bucharest. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (MassMutual) is a leading mutual life insurance company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1851, the company offers a wide range of protection, accumulation, wealth management, and retirement products and services. MassMutual Romania is a subsidiary of MassMutual, with a focus on technology and offices in Bucharest and Cluj (opened in March 2021). The local mission is to help the parent company accelerate its digital capabilities, to strengthen its position as a market leader.

In an exclusive talk with Future Banking, Michael Makar, Head of MassMutual Romania, shed a light on the organization’s plans for the near future.

What is MassMutual’s focus in Romania?

At MassMutual Romania, we develop digital products and technological solutions that help MassMutual’s customers protect themselves financially, thus forming a culture of innovation and reciprocity. So, the end goal, from a business perspective, is to provide a great customer experience in the increasingly digitized world that we’re living in.

From an employer’s perspective, our priority is to invest in people, support our employees’ growth, and contribute to the development of the local tech community.

Why did MassMutual choose Romania?

Romania benefits from a great pool of tech talent. It is a technology hub in continuous ascent, so the choice was relatively easy to make. Many cities in Eastern Europe are currently experiencing a technology boom, but when assessing the availability and capacity of resources combined with price and a low-risk political environment, Romania emerged as the best option.

Bucharest has a vibrant IT sector and thousands of IT/Computer Science new graduates every year. Full-stack technology talent is available for the different seniority levels and technology specialties that we need. Class A office space is available at competitive prices. Bucharest is a fast-paced, metropolitan city and attracts some of the best and brightest that Eastern Europe has to offer. The same things are true of Cluj as well, of course, very often referred to as the “Silicon Valley” of Europe. So, we opened offices in both Cluj and Bucharest, but we also have colleagues in other cities such as Iasi, Timisoara, Brasov, Sibiu, Pitesti, and Oradea. Our entire team works 100% remotely, but our offices are always open for our employees if they’d like to come in person.

Read the rest of the interview on futurebanking.ro