The holding company for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is MetLife, Inc., typically referred to as MetLife. The company headquarters are located in New York City, specifically midtown Manhattan. Up until 2000 when MetLife went public, it had been a mutual organization which is a business or company based in the principles of “mutuality” rather than being a true cooperative.
In addition to being one of the largest mutual fund companies, MetLife is the United States’ second largest life insurer and has over $3.3 trillion in life insurance accounts on their books. They are also an industry leader in other areas such as retirement and savings products and/or services for individuals, larger institutions, and small businesses. Additionally, MetLife now services the needs of 90 of the Fortune 100’s largest companies.
History of the MetLife
Although MetLife was originally founded in March of 1868, its origins date back 5 years earlier when a NYC businessmen’s group raised over $100,000 in order to establish the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. The company was originally founded for the purpose of insuring sailors and soldiers of the Civil War against disabilities that resulted from wartime accidents, sickness, and wounds. The company struggled for 5 years and in 1868 they changed their primary focus to the life insurance business.
Products and Services MetLife offers
MetLife serves both group and individual benefit products. However, their international division also serves these benefit products to groups and individuals in Asia (the Pacific Region), Europe, and Latin America. There is also the Reinsurance Group of America but who serve clients domestically and internationally. The following is a list of the products that MetLife currently offers their clients:
- Annuities
- Auto & Home Insurance
- Banking and financial services
- Commercial/residential mortgages
- Disability Insurance
- Fee-based financial planning
- Group Dental Insurance
- Group Disability Insurance
- Group Life Insurance
- Life insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Mutual funds as well as other investments
- Retirement planning
- Wealth management
What most people don’t realize is that MetLife offers it clients much more than just life insurance and other types of insurance products, especially their lines of investment products which have become very popular over the years.
MetLife mutual fund offerings
MetLife currently offers over 1,000 different mutual funds and manages over 250 families of mutual funds, an immense investment product line to say the least. The MetLife Securities division offers 7 basic categories of funds including:
- American Funds
- BlackRock
- Fidelity Advisor
- Invesco AIM
- Lord Abbett
- Oppenheimer
- Putnam
These are the primary categories, but there are numerous others available. Suffice it to say, with over 1,000 different mutual funds available, MetLife has something for every type of investor imaginable.
Because of the vastness of their mutual funds assortment, you will need some time to study which one is going to best suit your financial and portfolio needs. You can obtain further information by visiting the MetLife local office and speak to a company representative.