The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), made famous by the Snoopy One (and now Snoopy Two) blimps that fly over sports stadiums, and the Peanuts Gang characters, after the late Charles M.
Schultz received such good care from MetLife during an illness that he signed over the advertising trademark and copy rights of his characters to the company, was founded as the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company in New York City in 1863.
Today the company makes over $1 billion a year in profits and is one of the United States' largest financial institutions.
The company's famous tagline is "Get Met.
It Pays.
" When the financial services industry's traditionally separated divisions such as banking, stock investments, and insurance were merging together in large financial firms who wanted to be "one stop financial shops" beginning in the late 1990s, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was on the leading edge of that movement.
In 2005, MetLife bought the Citigroup's huge Travelers Life & Annuity division.
The company's corporate leadership seeks to be the single largest insurance company on the globe by 2010.
MetLife has also long owned State Street Research of Boston, which created the first mutual fund in American history in 1924.
MeLife's main corporate strategy and focus is recognition of and servicing of diverse and various human needs depending on different backgrounds, demographics, and personal circumstances.
Thus, the larger it becomes, the more it can service diversity.
MetLife maintains a sexually, ethnically, and culturally diverse employee force to help it meet its diversity servicing objectives.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has one of the strongest reputations for customer service and claims paying of any life insurance companies.
For this reason, Fitch rates MetLife Insurance at AA while Moody's Investors Service rates MetLife's efficiency as Excellent, an Aa2.
Standard & Poor's rates MetLife at AA because the company's financial conditions are so strong.
Early in 2008, Forbes listed Metropolitan Life Insurance as the best-managed insurance company in the nation.
Responded Robert Henrikson,chairman of the board, president and CEO of MetLife, Inc.
, "We're extremely honored to be selected by Forbes as the best managed insurance company in America.
MetLife is focused on delivering the best products and services for our clients, and this has translated into earnings growth and increased value for our shareholders.
Our talented employees and distribution partners have enabled us to generate consistent, year-over-year top-line growth since becoming a public company in 2000.
We're excited about the future, expanding on our market leading positions in the U.
S.
and exporting our expertise to several international markets as well.
" MetLife offers a vast array of insurance products and financial services.
Although the company built its reputation and huge customer base through heavy promotion of its whole life policies such as its "L98" plans, it has diversified substantially in the last dozen years and has remained successful by staying relevant and changing with changing times.
MetLife offers variable universal life policies, excellent long term care and disability policies, individual stock brokerage through its Series 7 licensed financial advisors, and a seemingly endless line of term life insurance policies these days in addition to its other offerings.
MetLife agents are among the best trained and best compensated in the industry and they offer a free full FNA (financial needs analysis) at every meeting they have with a client or prospect.
The company believes that education is the key to customer loyalty and expansion and hence bigger profits.
As one of the oldest life insurance companies in America, Metropolitan Life Insurance company is also one of the most modernized and one of the strongest.