MetLife’s corporate vision – to build financial freedom for everyone – guides the company’s response to people’s growing need for first-rate financial products and services through various life stages and economic cycles. MetLife’s trusted brand, capital strength, and existing relationships with millions of individual and institutional customers around the globe uniquely position MetLife among its competitors.
The "everyone" in MetLife’s vision took on added meaning in 2000 as the company welcomed an important new constituency: shareholders. MetLife transformed itself from mutual to stock ownership in April of that year through a demutualization and initial public offering that was completed in just 18 months after Board authorization.
The year 2001 was a true test of the qualities that define MetLife. The company’s core values, brought to life in what MetLife does every day, were no more evident than in MetLife’s response to the tragic events that shook our nation on September 11. MetLife responded quickly. The company served its customers, communities and employees during this difficult time. At the same time, MetLife invested $1 billion in a broad array of publicly-traded common stocks.
In 2001, MetLife was the first insurance company to establish a financial holding company with a nationally chartered bank. Leveraging its unparalleled distribution channels, MetLife entered the retail-banking arena with the launch of MetLife Bank, making it an easy and convenient way for MetLife’s customers to realize their financial goals.
MetLife announced in 2002 that it would be continuing its long-standing relationship with Snoopy and the rest of the PEANUTS® characters. The company signed a new contract that would allow the characters to appear in MetLife’s domestic and international advertising for the next 10 years.
The sale of State Street Research & Management Company to BlackRock, Inc. was announced in 2004. In line with MetLife’s strategy to focus on core business growth, the sale benefited many of the company’s Individual and Institutional Business clients who held investments through State Street Research, as it became part of one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the U.S.
The company’s stated long-term goal is to become the recognized leader throughout the world for relationship building, connectedness and caring in financial services – in the "giant league" with over 100 million people as MetLife customers by the year 2010.
MetLife took a major step toward realizing this goal in 2005, when it acquired Travelers Life & Annuity and substantially all of Citigroup’s international insurance businesses for $12 billion. Completed on July 1, 2005, the Travelers acquisition made MetLife the largest individual life insurer in North America based on sales, the second largest provider of retail annuities and the largest provider of institutional annuities.
Working Mother magazine honored MetLife in 2005 by naming the company one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers," for the seventh consecutive year. In 2005, the company was named to DiversityInc.’s list of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity. In early 2006, MetLife was also named to the National Association for Female Executives’ annual list of Top 30 Companies for Executive Women.
In 2006, MetLife appointed C. Robert (Rob) Henrikson chairman of the board of directors, president and chief executive officer of MetLife, Inc. Henrikson was appointed CEO on March 1, 2006 and chairman of the board on April 25, 2006.
Henrikson has been the architect of an aggressive growth strategy that included double-digit organic growth, the divestiture of non-core businesses, and an M&A strategy which resulted in market leadership in all of MetLife’s core product lines. Before it was commonly talked about, Henrikson recognized the opportunities presented by the changing demographics in a global marketplace and set the company on a course for continued success by developing innovative products and services and strengthening the company’s distribution power in the U.S. and 16 markets in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
Today, a time when consumers are feeling a greater financial burden than ever before, MetLife is helping millions of customers create their own personal safety net. At no time in the company’s history has MetLife been as well positioned to capitalize on its history, its reputation for security and stability, and its innovative products and services as it is today.
In the future, MetLife will continue to grow its business with focus, innovation and profitability. This will be accomplished by drawing on the reservoir of history that has produced an enduring set of corporate values based on more than 138 years of integrity, social responsibility, strong leadership and financial strength.
