MetLife

MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, or MetLife for short, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with 90 million customers in over 60 countries.[2][3] The firm was founded on March 24, 1868. On January 6, 1915, MetLife completed the mutualization process, changing from a stock life insurance company owned by individuals to a mutual company operating without external shareholders and for the benefit of policyholders.[5] The company went public in 2000.[6] Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia’s Pacific region, Europe, and the Middle East.[7] MetLife serves 90 of the largest Fortune 500 companies.[8] The company’s principal offices are located at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, though it retains some executive offices and its boardroom in the MetLife Building, located at 200 Park Avenue, New York City, which it sold in 2005 The predecessor company to MetLife began in 1863 when a group of New York City businessmen raised $100,000 to found the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. The company insured Civil War sailors and soldiers against disabilities due to wartime wounds, accidents, and sickness. On March 24, 1868, it became known as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and shifted its focus to the life insurance business A severe business depression that began with the Panic of 1873 forced the company to contract, until it reached its lowest point in the late 1870s. After observing the insurance industry in Great Britain in 1879, MetLife President Joseph F. Knapp brought “industrial” or “workingmen’s” insurance programs to the United States – insurance issued in small amounts on which premiums were collected weekly or monthly at the policyholder’s home. By 1880, sales had exceeded a quarter million of such policies, resulting in nearly $1 million in revenue from premiums. In 1909, MetLife had become the nation’s largest life insurer in the U.S., as measured by life insurance in force (the total value of life insurance policies issued). In 1907, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company tower was commissioned to serve as MetLife’s 23rd Street headquarters in Lower Manhattan. Completed two years later, the building was the world's tallest until 1913 and remained the company's headquarters until 2005. For many years, an illustration of the building (with light emanating from the tip of its spire and the slogan, "The Light That Never Fails") featured prominently in MetLife’s advertising.[14] By 1930, MetLife insured every fifth man, woman, and child in the United States and Canada.[15] During the 1930s, it also began to diversify its portfolio by reducing the percentage of individual mortgages in favor of public utility bonds, investments in government securities, and loans for commercial real estate.[15] The company financed the construction of the Empire State Building in 1929 as well as provided capital to build Rockefeller Center in 1931. During World War II, MetLife placed more than 51 percent of its total assets in war bonds, and was the largest single private contributor to the Allied cause. During the postwar era, the company expanded its suburban presence, decentralized operations, and refocused its career agency system to serve all market segments. It also began to market group insurance products to employers and institutions. By 1979, operations were segmented into four primary businesses: group insurance, personal insurance, pensions, and investments.[15] In 1981, MetLife purchased what became known as the MetLife building for $400 million from a group that included Pan American World Airways. Life insurance[edit] MetLife’s individual life insurance products and services comprise term life insurance and several types of permanent life insurance, including whole life, universal life, and final expense whole life insurance.[67][68] These services vary in regards to the duration and amount of coverage available and whether a medical exam is required for coverage. The company also offers group life insurance, provided through employers, which consists of term life, permanent life, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage.[69][70] MetLife is the largest life insurer in the United States, based on life insurance in-force.[8][66] Dental[edit] MetLife offers group dental benefit plans for individuals, employees, retirees and their families and provides dental plan administration for over 20 million people.[71][72] Plans include MetLife’s Preferred Dentist Program (PPO) and the SafeGuard DHMO (available for both individuals and employees in CA, FL, and TX). As of May 2010, MetLife’s dental PPO network included over 135,000 participating dentist locations nationwide while the dental HMO network included more than 13,000 participating dentist locations in California, Florida and Texas.[73] MetLife also administers dental continuing education program for dentists and allied health care professionals, which are recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).[74] Disability[edit] MetLife provides disability products for individuals as well as employee and association groups who receive them through their employer.[75][76] For individuals, the company’s individual disability income insurance can replace a portion of lost income if an individual is unable to work due to sickness or injury.[77] MetLife offers several individual disability income policies, including MetLife Income Guard, OMNI Advantage, OMNI Essential, Business Overhead Expense, and Buy-Sell.[78] The policy options provided by the company vary in terms of eligibility and the provided coverage. For groups, MetLife offers short term disability insurance and long term disability insurance.[79] Short term disability insurance is structured to replace a portion of an individual’s income during the initial weeks of a disabling illness or accident.[80] Long term disability Insurance serves to replace a portion of an individual’s income during an extended period of a disabling illness or accident.[81][82] The company also maintains an absence management product which allows employers to track and manage both planned and unplanned employee absences. The product, which MetLife calls MetLife Total Absence Management, is structured for businesses with 1,000 or more employees.[83] Annuities[edit] MetLife is among the largest providers of annuities in the world, recording $22.4 billion in sales during 2009.[84] MetLife offers annuities which consist of fixed annuities, variable annuities, deferred annuities and immediate annuities.[85] In 1921, MetLife was the first company to issue a group annuity contract.[86] More recently in 2004, it was the first insurer to introduce a longevity insurance product.[87] As of December 31, 2009, MetLife globally managed group annuity assets of $60 billion with $34 billion of transferred pension liabilities and provided benefit payments to over 600,000 annuitants per month.[88] Auto & Home[edit] MetLife Auto & Home is the brand name for MetLife’s nine affiliate personal lines insurance companies.[89] Collectively these companies offer personal lines property and casualty insurance policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.[90] The flagship company in the MetLife Auto & Home group, Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company, was founded in 1972.[89] MetLife Auto & Home companies presently have over 2.7 million active policies and service 58 of the Fortune 100 companies.[91][92] MetLife's home insurance solutions include homeowners insurance, condo insurance, renters insurance, insurance for landlords, and mobile home insurance.[93][94] The available policies for MetLife's home insurance provide coverage for possessions, property damage from natural disaster or theft, and various legal expenses incurred resulting from injuries sustained on an individual's property.[95] The companies also sell RV, ATV, boat, mobile home, collectible vehicle, and motorcycle policies[96] and offers flood insurance policies as a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is managed by the federal government.[97][98] MetLife's various types of coverage for auto insurance include liability protection, collision and comprehensive coverage, personal injury protection, rental car coverage, and uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage.[99][100] Through an arrangement with Hyatt Legal Plans, a subsidiary of MetLife, MetLife Auto & Home underwrites group legal plans in many states.[101] It was the first national insurer in the U.S. to offer identity-theft resolution services at no extra premium and as of 2012 continues to do so today in most U.S. states.[102][103] In 2010, MetLife Auto & Home began offering their GrandProtect plan in most states. This GrandProtect policy simplifies complex insurance needs by combining a client's home, valuable items, autos, RVs, and boats into one comprehensive policy package. The ultimate benefits to the consumer are having one bill, only one deductible, comprehensive coverage, and typically lower rates than trying to get each policy individually.[104] Other products[edit] MetLife’s products also include critical illness insurance.[105] Financial services include fee-based financial planning, retirement planning, wealth management, 529 Plans, banking, and commercial and residential mortgages.[106] The company also provides retirement plan and other financial services to healthcare, education, and not-for-profit organizations.[107] The MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning is a group of planners which serve families and individuals with special needs.[108] In 2014, MetLife launched MetLife Defender, a digital identity theft protection product