MassMutual Elects Karen Bechtel to Board of Directors

SPRINGFIELD — MassMutual announced the election of Karen Bechtel to its board of directors. Bechtel is managing director of global alternative asset manager the Carlyle Group.

“I am extremely pleased to welcome Karen Bechtel to MassMutual’s board of directors. She brings both a sterling reputation and keen business acumen built on more than 30 years of investment management and corporate development expertise, and we look forward to her contributions,” said Roger Crandall, chairman, president, and CEO. “Importantly, as part of MassMutual’s unwavering commitment to best-in-class corporate governance, we are focused on ensuring that our board reflects diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.”

Bechtel joined Carlyle in 2005 as the head of the Global Healthcare team and currently is focused on corporate buyout opportunities within the private equity market. Prior to her role at Carlyle, for 28 years, she held a variety of leadership roles within Morgan Stanley & Co., including as managing director of its Private Equity Group. During her career with Morgan Stanley, she was also co-head of the Financial Sponsors Group and head of the Corporate Restructuring Group, with a strong focus on healthcare investments as well as mergers and acquisitions. She was also a member of the firm’s Investment Banking Operating Committee.

In addition to her role as a new MassMutual director, Bechtel serves on the boards of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, HCR-ManorCare, and Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC. She is also a former board member of Healthscope Ltd., Grupo Qualicorp, Multiplan Inc., and LifeCare.

Mergers & Acquisitions magazine in 2015 named her one of the Most Influential Women in mid-market M&A. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin and earned her MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.