The average account balance for participants in Springfield-based MassMutual’s retirement programs took a 25 percent hit in 2008, which the company says is actually better than the 38.5 percent nosedive taken by the benchmark S&P 500 over the same period.

Despite the volatile financial markets, participants have not stopped contributing to their 401(k) plans. In general, participation rates continue to rise, the company said, most likely because of growing adoption of automatic enrollment. MassMutual noted an increase of approximately 10% in the number of plans adopting auto-enrollment since the end of September 2008.

Volatility has also led many MassMutual investors to seek safety for their investments. Assets in stable value investment options at MassMutual as a percentage of total assets have increased by 13 percentage points between 2007 and 2008, the company said.

"We’re pleased to see so many participants are ‘staying the course’ rather than reacting in a manner that is contrary to their overall retirement planning strategy," said Debbie Cote, assistant vice president and head of MassMutual’s retirement services call center.