Roger W. Crandall has taken over as chief executive officer of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) as of Jan. 1.

Crandall, who has been president and chief operating officer, will retain the title of president. He succeeds Stuart H. Reese, who will serve as non-executive chairman of the board of directors.

"We addressed the challenges of 2009 head on by posting record whole life insurance sales, growing our field force to 5,000 financial professionals, recording our highest sales year ever in our retirement services business, and maintaining our strong financial position," Crandall said. "We are extremely well-positioned to build on our recent success and continue to serve the needs of our growing base of policyholders and clients. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Stu in his capacity as chairman so we can ensure a smooth transition, build upon our strong foundation, and continue to make doing business with MassMutual a good decision for our policyholders."