MetLife

Institutional Business continues to be an industry powerhouse, demonstrating its leadership and success in the employee benefits arena. Institutional business maintains relationships with 61,000 employers, covering 39 million people.

For the full year 2006, Institutional Business delivered strong financial results, achieving record operating earnings available to common shareholders (as defined in Financial Highlights) of $1.7 billion. Across the board, group insurance fundamentals remained solid while Institutional grew at a rate outpacing the market.

During the year, MetLife added 11 new National Account customers (groups with more than 25,000 employees), effective January 1, 2007. These sales are significant because this business has unparalleled persistency, and 90% of MetLife’s growth in this market comes from current customers. In the middle market (companies with 500-25,000 employees), Institutional Business has experienced double-digit growth since 2003, growing the top line by more than 10% and the bottom line even faster. Finally, among smaller customers (those with fewer than 500 employees) Institutional Business also has been growing at a double-digit pace, and MetLife sees excellent potential for future growth.

In the wake of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and other regulatory reforms, MetLife has significant opportunities to bring solutions to the marketplace that help employers better manage pension plan and benefits liability issues. Going forward, Institutional Business will continue to strengthen its overall capabilities in the retirement and savings business, including accelerating efforts in the pension closeout arena.

Thought leadership is an important component of MetLife's corporate reputation and its growth in the institutional business. In April, with the International Longevity Center-USA as co-host, MetLife hosted its second national benefits symposium, bringing together more than 200 leaders from the benefits industry, corporate America, the Federal government and academia to discuss a topic of increasing importance: longevity and its impact on the workplace. As a cornerstone of its thought leadership strategy on topics related to aging and retirement, the national benefits symposium is a high-impact way to advance the dialogue around critical industry issues, reinforce MetLife’s expertise and differentiate the company from its competitors.

Leveraging the corporate “if” campaign, a new Institutional Business advertising campaign was launched in the fall, designed to heighten awareness of the open benefit enrollment season and urge employees to take action to protect themselves against the financial uncertainties they may be confronting. Since employees spend less than 30 minutes a year making their benefits selections, this campaign not only included awareness advertising, but also a unique educational component that demonstrates MetLife’s ability to provide consumers with their own “safety net.”

MetLife's service platform continues to be a point of differentiation in the marketplace. The company’s focus on strong lasting relationships has significantly impacted customer retention rates and loyalty metrics as well, strong indications that MetLife is primed for continued success in the employee benefits arena.

Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program

In 2006, MetLife was selected by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management along with six other insurance carriers to offer employee-paid dental insurance to federal employees and annuitants—a population of 4.5 million potential customers. Preparations actually began five years ago with National Accounts and Dental Product Management working with the Government and Industry Relations Department to provide expertise to congressional staffers who drafted the legislation that led to the creation of the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP). A formal request for proposal was sent out in October 2005. Once MetLife was awarded the business, a multi-faceted marketing campaign was developed for the November 2006 enrollment period to build awareness of MetLife and its capabilities. The campaign encompassed public relations, onsite enrollment, out-bound email/calling, web marketing, advertising in the Washington D.C. metro area and the attendance at more than 250 benefit fairs.

As the cornerstone of MetLife’s expansion into the world of employee-paid dental products, the FEDVIP program opens up an opportunity for MetLife to create new strategies and models for the future. With more than 715,000 federal employees and annuitants electing MetLife’s plan, this was a great way to start.