Metlife Insurance Company Review
MetLife, also known as the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, is the largest and best known provider of life insurance in the United States. It is also a major provider of annuities and several other types of insurance including dental, auto, home, disability, and critical illness policies. The company currently services 90 million customers in more than 60 countries, making it one of the world's largest insurers.
The insurer that became MetLife was organized in 1863 as the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. This organization's purpose was to provide disability insurance for Union soldiers fighting in the Civil War. The business was not very successful and was reorganized into a company dedicated to life insurance in 1868. That is when the name Metropolitan Life Insurance was adopted.
During the late 19th Century, Metropolitan grew rapidly by selling insurance policies to factory workers and selling policies with five and ten cent premiums. It was one of the first companies to establish an agent training program by importing experienced British agents to teach Americans modern insurance methods. By 1903, these methods had proven so successful that the firm was the largest life insurance provider in North America.
In 1907, MetLife built what was then the world's tallest building: the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower in New York City, which served as its corporate headquarters for decades. The company also financed the building of two American landmarks the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center during the 1920s. During World War II it was the largest private financier of the Allied war effort by investing more than 51% of its assets in war bonds. At the time it was also the world's richest private company.
Today MetLife is one of America's most recognizable brands because of its use of Snoopy in advertising. In recent decades it has purchased other major insurers including Traveler's Life & Annuity and the American Life Insurance Company. It went public in an IPO in 2000 and its shares were the most widely held in North America at one time.
Life Insurance from MetLife
Despite all of its other activities, MetLife is still best known as a life insurance company. It currently offers one of the widest varieties of life policies available to the public. Life policies offered include term, whole, universal, variable universal, and survivorship.
One of the best deals that Met offers is the combined term life and disability policy. This gives its holder a large term policy in case of death and a disability policy in case he or she is unable to work. Such a product is ideal for the self-employed or those not receiving disability insurance through their job.
Metlife also offers traditional whole life insurance which is a good deal for those who need permanent coverage. These policies have such benefits as fixed premiums, a guaranteed death benefit, a cash value that can grow, and dividends that can be reinvested.
Annuities from MetLife
Like most life insurers, Metropolitan is now offering quite a few annuity products. As with other companies it is giving different sounding names to fairly standard annuities. The firm's Income Annuities are simply normal fixed and deferred products.
This webpage is pushing the Longevity Income Guarantee product which has both good and bad features. The Maximum Income Version of this product does not feature such common provisions as a death benefit or liquidity. Instead it offers a guaranteed income after age 85, which would make it a poor deal for person who did not live to that age. The Flexible Access Version offers features found in normal annuities such as liquidity and a death benefit.
The annuities offerings at MetLife are limited and they do have some questionable provisions. One glaring fault is that indexed annuities are not offered. Persons seeking annuities may find wider offers from more specialized providers.
Financial Ratings for MetLife
Rating MetLife's insurance financial strength is a little difficult because the company issues policies through several subsidiaries. Most of these are highly rated but some of these are not rated by major financial analysis firms at all. The importance of these ratings will vary based on which subsidiary issued the policy in question.
The company's own website mentions that the ratings posted online deliberately excluded negative reports on the American Life Insurance Company from A.M. Best, Standard & Poor's, and Moody's. It should be noted that American Life was part of AIG, the insurance giant that nearly collapsed and had to be bailed out by the federal government in 2008. American Life did get an A1 rating from Moody's. Ratings for this firm from another major company, Fitch's are unavailable.
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company itself received an A+ from A.M. Best, a grade of AA- from Fitch, Aa3 from Moody's and AA- from Standard & Poor's (S&P). All of the company's subsidiaries except First MetLife Investors Insurance Company and American Life got similar ratings. First Met received an A+ from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's but ratings for it from Fitch and Moody's were not available.
MetLife's subsidiaries include: American Life Insurance Company, General American Life Insurance Company, MetLife Insurance Company of Connecticut, MetLife Investors Insurance Company, MetLife Investors USA Insurance Company, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and New England Life Insurance Company.