MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced today that in light of tax reform, the company will increase the investment it makes in its employees. The company will strengthen financial security for U.S. employees by increasing the minimum wage it pays, enhancing benefits, and boosting contributions to retirement plans. It will also create a new $10 million skills development fund to help its employees around the world upgrade their workplace skills.
“As a result of tax reform, we are making a significant investment in our employees. We are enhancing pay and benefit programs and helping them develop skills that will make them more valuable members of our team,” said Chairman, President and CEO Steven A. Kandarian. “We are investing in their future and strengthening their long-term financial security with structural improvements that will endure. We are also channeling most of the benefits to employees at the lower end of the compensation spectrum.”
To help the company’s global workforce identify and acquire the skills needed to compete in the 21st century digital workplace, MetLife is establishing a Workforce of the Future Development Fund. The company will invest $10 million to accelerate a culture of learning and innovation.
For all eligible U.S. employees, MetLife’s enhanced programs include:
Establishing a company minimum wage of $15 an hour, well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Establishing a minimum MetLife-provided group life insurance benefit of $75,000, regardless of the employee’s pay. Previously, the benefit was set at one times annual pay.
Introducing a $300 minimum monthly credit for the cash-balance formula of the company’s defined benefit pension plan, also regardless of the employee’s pay. MetLife is one of a limited number of Fortune 50 companies that continues to provide its employees with both a defined benefit pension plan and a defined contribution plan to help them build secure retirements.
Enhancing the 401(k) plan design by moving to auto-enrollment for employee contributions and immediate eligibility for, and vesting in, employer matching contributions. This is scheduled to take effect in 2019.
Extending company-paid group legal services offered through MetLife’s Hyatt Legal Plans. Currently approximately one third of MetLife employees in the United States are enrolled in this voluntary benefit. With this change, legal services will be provided to MetLife’s 18,000 employees in the United States at the company’s expense.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
Contact:
MetLife
William Quinn
(212) 578-6371
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) Chairman, President and CEO Steven A. Kandarian issued the following statement today on the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to dismiss FSOC’s appeal of the district court decision rescinding MetLife’s designation as a non-bank systemically important financial institution:
“This is the right outcome not only for MetLife’s customers, employees and shareholders, but for the broader financial system as well. MetLife has always supported prudent regulation of the insurance industry and is effectively regulated at the state level, but FSOC’s 2014 designation of MetLife was a textbook case of regulatory overreach.
“MetLife wants a level playing field where we are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by regulation. We are not ‘too big to fail’ and never have been. We do not want the burdens that come with that label and, to the extent it has any benefits, we do not want those either. For nearly 150 years, MetLife has stood on its own two feet without any need for a government backstop.
“Regulating companies reasonably is critical to fueling robust economic growth and creating jobs. If systemically important activities are taking place anywhere in the insurance industry, primary regulators should focus on those activities directly, as we have advocated since 2009.”
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) and the Financial Stability Oversight Council today filed a joint motion to dismiss FSOC’s appeal of the district court decision rescinding MetLife’s designation as a non-bank systemically important financial institution.
MetLife has also agreed that, upon dismissal, it will join FSOC in filing a motion asking the district court to vacate the portion of its opinion concluding that FSOC failed to undertake the required cost-benefit analysis when designating MetLife. The parties will not be asking the district court to set aside any other aspect of its opinion.
These motions will bring the litigation between MetLife and FSOC to an end and preserve the district court’s ruling rescinding FSOC’s designation of MetLife.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
Company Recognized for Strong Management of Environmental, Social and Governance Issues
NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2017– MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that it has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), a widely-recognized standard for corporate responsibility that tracks leading sustainability-driven companies.
DJSI scores companies based on their management of a variety of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues: corporate governance, risk management, branding and reputation, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labor practices. MetLife was eligible for the DJSI North America, which recognizes a group of the top 20 percent of sustainability performers across the 600 largest U.S. and Canadian companies. MetLife was one of only seven insurers in North America to make the list.
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MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) Chairman, President and CEO Steven A. Kandarian issued the following statement today on passage of the Financial CHOICE Act by the U.S. House of Representatives:
“The Financial CHOICE Act is an important step toward the permanent removal of the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to designate non-bank insurance companies as Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs).
“Singling out a few large insurance companies for redundant regulation harms competition, leads to higher prices and less financial protection for consumers, and fails to make the financial system safer. The life insurance industry is already subject to a strong and proven state regulatory system with capital rules designed to address risks associated with the insurance business model.”
Click here to read the full statement.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 17, 2017 – MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that Roberto Matus has joined the company as vice president of Government Relations, Latin America. Matus will be based in Washington and report to Susan Greenwell, senior vice president and head of International Government Relations for MetLife.
“Roberto has deep experience in Washington, where he has spent many years as a senior member of Chile’s diplomatic corps,” said Greenwell. “His long and distinguished career in diplomacy and international trade will be a critical asset for MetLife, which is the largest life insurer in Latin America with more than 26 million customers in the region.”
Matus joins MetLife from the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce, where he promoted business ties and free trade between Chile and the United States. Matus served as the organization’s chief executive officer and general manager.
Prior to his work with the Chamber, Matus served in Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he held several diplomatic roles including positions in Chile’s embassy in Washington. In his most recent diplomatic posting, Matus served as deputy chief of mission in Chile’s Washington embassy from 2009 to 2013.
From 2006 to 2009, Matus served as chief of staff to Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Alejandro Foxley. In addition, from 2004 to 2005, he headed the office responsible for implementing Chile’s free trade agreements. From 1999 to 2003, Matus participated in negotiations that led to the Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Chile in his role as the economic and trade attaché in Washington. Matus joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988 and was posted in 1990 to the Chilean embassy in Washington, where he spent five years before returning home to lead the Department of Trade Defense, Bureau of International Economic Affairs.
Matus is a graduate of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile and the Diplomatic Academy of Chile.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
Contacts: Chris Stern | MetLife | 202-974-5477
NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2017– MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that it has achieved its 2015 goal of carbon neutrality, becoming the first U.S.-based insurer to do so.
MetLife achieved carbon neutrality by integrating sustainability and energy efficiency best practices across the company’s global operations, and then offsetting the remainder of emissions through investments in carbon mitigation projects around the world.
“MetLife is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and driving sound environmental stewardship across our business globally,” said Marty Lippert, executive vice president and head of MetLife Global Technology and Operations. “Sustainable business strategies not only reduce our environmental impact but also underscore who we are as a company.”
Examples of MetLife’s efforts to embed sustainability throughout its operations include:
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification for MetLife’s Washington D.C. office and Global Technology Campus in Cary, N.C. MetLife now has 19 LEED certified offices globally (the equivalent of almost four million square feet of real estate), and six of these offices have earned the Platinum designation.
- Energy reductions of nearly 30 percent across U.S. owned and operated offices.
- Engagement with its top suppliers to reduce environmental impact through the organization’s supply chain.
- Green investments of $9.7 billion which include ownership stakes in 37 wind and solar farms, equity stakes in 48 LEED-certified properties and $3 billion in renewable energy projects.
These efforts are central elements of the company’s global environmental goals established in 2015, which include:
- Become carbon neutral in 2016 and going forward.
- By 2020, reduce all energy consumption by 10 percent from a 2012 baseline.
- By 2020, reduce location-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 10 percent from a 2012 baseline.
- By 2020, require 100 of MetLife’s top suppliers to publicly disclose their GHG emissions and emission-reduction activities.
MetLife’s commitment to the environment extends outside its own footprint. To help offset the remainder of its carbon emissions, the company is supporting six, third-party certified carbon mitigation projects that support sustainable development. Examples include:
- Initiatives to install solar powered cookstoves in China helping families switch from coal-fired cooking to 100% renewable energy.
- A Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) project that protects tropical rainforest in Colombia. This effort helps conserve the rainforest and reduces clear-cutting and other unsustainable agricultural practices.
- In the U.S., MetLife supports a project to capture emissions from New York State’s largest non-hazardous waste facility and transform the gasses into clean energy.
MetLife’s progress against its environmental goals is a reflection of the company’s long-standing commitment to reducing its environmental impact. Recent recognition of MetLife’s accomplishments on this front include:
- Recognized by CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) for leadership in reporting and management of climate change issues. CDP is a not-for-profit that assesses the work of more than 5,000 companies on environmental performance.
- Named to the 2016 North American Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a corporate sustainability index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies.
- Received the 2016 Climate Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the company’s bold new greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.
For more information on MetLife’s commitment to the environment and other corporate responsibility activities, visit www.metlifeglobalimpact.com.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100
million customers, MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain or incorporate by reference information that includes or is based upon forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give expectations or forecasts of future events. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “goals,” and other words and terms of similar meaning, or are tied to future periods, in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions, prospective services or products, future performance or results of current and anticipated services or products, sales efforts, expenses, the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings, trends in operations and financial results.
Any or all forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many such factors will be important in determining the actual future results of MetLife, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. These statements are based on current expectations and the current economic environment. They involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties, and other factors that might cause such differences include the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in MetLife, Inc.’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Annual Report”) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed by MetLife, Inc. with the SEC after the date of the Annual Report under the captions “Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors,” and other filings MetLife, Inc. makes with the SEC. MetLife, Inc. does not undertake any obligation to publicly correct or update any forward-looking statement if MetLife, Inc. later becomes aware that such statement is not likely to be achieved. Please consult any further disclosures MetLife, Inc. makes on related subjects in reports to the SEC.
MetLife’s 2016 Lifetime Income Poll Reveals Plan Sponsors Want More Regulatory Clarity to Make It Easier to Offer Guaranteed Income Solutions
NEW YORK, September 7, 2016 – A large majority of plan sponsors (85%) agree that the core purpose of a defined contribution (DC) plan should be to serve as an income source during retirement, according to the MetLife 2016 Lifetime Income Poll, released today. This represents a subtle but significant sea change from the 9% of plan sponsors in a 2012 MetLife study who believed that the primary focus of their DC plan was to provide retirement income, as opposed to retirement savings.1
The Lifetime Income Poll gauged plan sponsors’ familiarity with – and knowledge about – regulatory developments by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury to strengthen retirement security among U.S. workers; nine in ten plan sponsors (94%) are familiar with regulators’ lifetime income efforts. The full report examining these findings is available at: metlife.com/LifetimeIncomePoll.
“No longer can DC plans exist solely as retirement savings plans,” says Tim Brown, senior vice president and head of Life & Income Funding Solutions with MetLife. “The core purpose of today’s DC plans must be recast to move beyond retirement savings to retirement income, by enabling plan sponsors to provide the education, tools and solutions to help participants make their savings last a lifetime.”
NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 – MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today ordered that the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) designation of MetLife as a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) be rescinded. MetLife Chairman, President and CEO Steven A. Kandarian issued the following statement:
“Today’s ruling validates MetLife’s decision to seek judicial review of our SIFI designation. From the beginning, MetLife has said that its business model does not pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States. This decision is a win for MetLife’s customers, employees and shareholders.”
NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2015 – Steven A. Kandarian, chairman, president and CEO of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), issued the following statement today on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade agreement among 12 nations of the Pacific Rim.
“After analyzing the text of the TPP, MetLife will support the agreement and seek congressional support for its ratification.”
“As one of the largest life insurers in the world with operations in nearly 50 countries, MetLife has four key priorities in assessing any trade deal: improved market access, a level competitive playing field, ease of cross-border data flows, and regulatory transparency. The TPP makes meaningful progress on all of them.”
“We are confident that ratification of the TPP will lead to faster economic growth, greater choice and lower costs for consumers in the markets where we do business, and more high-paying jobs in the U.S.”
“The agreement is not perfect – no trade deal is – but on balance the TPP represents a significant step in the right direction and deserves to be ratified.”