MetLife

MetLife is a provider of insurance, employee benefits and financial services, with operations throughout the United States and the regions of Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and India (EMEI).

The Company provides a variety of insurance and financial services products, including life, dental, disability and long-term care insurance, various annuity products, and auto and home insurance. Within the United States, it also provides a range of savings and mortgage banking products. Segments include Insurance Products (group life, individual life and non-medical health insurance products), Retirement Products (individual and institutional annuity products), Corporate Benefit Funding (pension closeouts, structured settlements and other benefit funding solutions), Auto and Home segment, International, as well as Banking, Corporate and Other.

MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs. Founded in 1868, MetLife, which went public in 2000, serves 90 million customers in over 60 countries, as well as 90 of the largest Fortune 500 companies.

In 2015 MetLife launched LumenLab, its own innovation centre in Singapore. The facility, which houses a working space and business incubator is an integral element of MetLife’s investment in Asia. The centre focuses on developing disruptive business models in the areas of wellness, wealth and retirement. In 2019 MetLife piloted its new blockchain-based automated life insurance claim system, Lifechain, with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and NTUC Income. LifeChain enables bereaved families who place an obituary to automatically trigger their deceased family member's life insurance policy pay out (if they were a policy holder). The pilot, running from June to October, will be tested on 1,000 randomly-selected NTUC Income life insurance policy holders.

The following year, it announced the launch of Collab – a three-month program that supports “product ready” start-ups as they tackle the business needs of tomorrow. The annual programme provides the successful finalist with a $100k contract to implement a pilot within MetLife. Then, in 2018, it was revealed that the lab, along with 3 other major insurance companies, would be enlisting the help of local tech companies to develop digital products such as chatbots and mobile apps.

In 2019, MetLife chose iPipeline’s SolutionBuilder as its preferred platform to launch a MultiProtect accident cover product giving U.K. families and individuals access to affordable and flexible financial protection for everyday risks.

Later that year, the insurer set up 360Health, an end-to-end health solution in Asia to address concerns over quality of life and increase customer's "healthspan" by preventing and managing serious illness. Initially launched in South Korea, customers and their family members now have access to health protection products in addition to a wide selection of "innovative health services," like discounted genetic testing for cancer and pharmacogenomic testing, as well as a private nurse to accompany and support patients attending medical appointments for a critical illness.

In June 2019, MetLife entered into an agreement with FWD Management Holdings Limited (the Hong Kong registered business of FWD Group) for the latter to acquire MetLife Limited and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of Hong Kong (MetLife Hong Kong). Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

In February 2020 MetLife UK added a tele-underwriting option to their medical insurance products, with a 30 minute phone consultation offered as an alternative to completing the more traditional application forms.

In early 2020 Metlife announced its 2019 results, reporting net income of $5.07bn, up from $5bn in 2018.

In July 2021 MetLife announced the launch of a new pet insurance product. The new offering is tailored for dogs and cats irrespective of age and breed. The product aims to improve is the management of anticipated as well as unplanned costs stemming from keeping a pet at home.

Global workforce mental health solutions company, Lyra Health and MetLife partnered and launched a new program that provides employees with access to mental health services as part of their recovery when they file a disability or absence claim.