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8-K - FORM 8-K - METLIFE INC | y90405e8vk.htm |
Contacts:
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For Media: | John Calagna (212) 578-6252 |
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For Investors: | John McCallion (212) 578-7888 |
METLIFE BOARD NAMES STEVEN A. KANDARIAN
TO SUCCEED C. ROBERT HENRIKSON AS PRESIDENT & CEO
TO SUCCEED C. ROBERT HENRIKSON AS PRESIDENT & CEO
NEW YORK, March 21, 2011 The board of directors of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced today
that Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Steven A. Kandarian will become
MetLifes president and chief executive officer on May 1, 2011. He also will be nominated for
election to the MetLife board at the companys annual shareholder meeting in April. C. Robert
Henrikson, who in 2012 will reach MetLifes executive management mandatory retirement age, will
continue to serve as chairman of the board during a transition period through year-end 2011.
During his six years at MetLife, Steve has overseen the strengthening and further diversification
of MetLifes $450 billion portfolio and made significant contributions to the development and
execution of MetLifes strategic initiatives, said MetLife Board Lead Director Cheryl W. Grisé,
who headed the boards year-long succession planning activity. The board undertook an extensive
process, which included a review of internal and external candidates, and were confident that
Steves wealth of experience and industry knowledge make him well suited to serve as MetLifes next
CEO. His deep understanding of MetLifes risk management culture and businesses make him the ideal
person to take MetLife to the next level of global success.
Rob has been an exceptional leader for MetLife. We are enormously appreciative of all that he has
contributed to the company in his nearly 40 years of service and the board looks forward to
continuing to work with him throughout the transition period, added Grisé.
C. Robert Henrikson said, Having worked closely with Steve over the years, I have great confidence
in his ability to lead MetLife into a new era of global growth and outstanding performance. He has
demonstrated inspirational leadership on critical company initiatives and clearly understands the
importance of delivering value to all of our stakeholders attributes that will make him a great
CEO.
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Steven A. Kandarian stated, This is an exciting time for MetLife, and Im honored to have been
chosen to lead this premier global franchise. Under Robs leadership, MetLife has not only
weathered one of the most challenging economic periods in history, but has emerged with enhanced
operational and financial strength, and a greatly expanded platform for capitalizing on life,
annuity and retirement market opportunities around the world. We are proceeding on plan with the
integration of Alico while maintaining our focus on disciplined growth, margin improvement and
return on equity expansion. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Rob, the entire
management team and our exceptionally talented and dedicated employees and distribution partners.
Kandarian, 59, joined MetLife as the companys chief investment officer in April 2005. As CIO, he
has enhanced the companys focus on effective risk management and diversified its investment
portfolio, in part through the $5.4 billion sale of Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town in 2006.
Under Kandarians leadership, MetLife identified the housing bubble early and reduced the companys
exposure to sub-prime mortgage-backed securities, raised the overall quality of its corporate
credit portfolio and increased its focus on low loan-to-value commercial and agricultural
mortgages.
In 2007, he oversaw a comprehensive review of MetLifes strategic initiatives, which resulted in
the identification of key areas of focus for MetLife to achieve revenue growth and expense savings.
In 2009, Kandarian assumed responsibility for MetLifes global brand and marketing services
department.
Prior to joining MetLife, Kandarian was the executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) from 2001 to 2004. Before joining the PBGC, Kandarian was founder and managing
partner of Orion Partners, LP. From 1990 to 1993, he served as president and founder of Eagle
Capital Holdings and, prior to that, served as managing director of Lee Capital Holdings, a private
equity firm based in Boston. Kandarian is a board member of MetLife Bank and the Damon Runyon
Cancer Research Foundation. He also is a member of the Economic Club of New York and is an
advisory board member of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. He received a B.A.
from Clark University, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and a M.B.A. from Harvard
Business School.
Henrikson, 63, has served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of MetLife since 2006.
He has led MetLife to achieve record financial results, and with the acquisition of Alico,
completed in November 2010, positioned the company for further growth as an insurance and employee
benefits powerhouse by expanding its presence to more than 60 countries. During his career at
MetLife, Henrikson has held numerous executive positions, including president and COO, where he
oversaw all of MetLifes revenue-generating businesses, from 2004 to 2006, and president of
MetLifes U.S. Insurance and Financial Services businesses from 2002 to 2004.
Henrikson began his career at MetLife as a sales representative in 1972, and held roles of
increasing breadth and responsibility, heading up the pensions business, group insurance and
retirement and savings businesses, and both group and individual businesses at MetLife. He
received his B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. degree from Emory
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University School of Law. In addition, he is a graduate of the Wharton Schools Advanced
Management Program.
Additional Information
Shareholders and investors are urged to read the definitive proxy statement for MetLifes 2011
annual meeting of shareholders when it becomes available because it will contain important
information. MetLife filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC on March 8, 2011. You may
obtain copies of the proxy statement, as well as other filings containing information about
MetLife, free of charge, at the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Copies of the
definitive proxy statement, when it becomes available, can also be obtained, free of charge, by
directing a request to MetLife Investor Relations, MetLife, Inc., 1095 Avenue of the Americas, New
York, NY 10036, or by calling 1-800-753-4904. The definitive proxy statement when it becomes
available may also be accessed on the Internet at http://investor.metlife.com by selecting
Financial Information, SEC Filings, MetLife, Inc. > View SEC Filings.
Participants in the Solicitation
MetLife and its directors, nominees for director and executive officers may be deemed participants
in the solicitation of proxies from MetLifes shareholders with respect to the annual meeting of
shareholders. Information about the companys directors, nominees for director and executive
officers and their respective direct and indirect interests is included in the preliminary proxy
statement and will be included in the definitive proxy statement when it becomes available.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. is a leading global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs,
serving 90 million customers in over 60 countries. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates,
MetLife holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia Pacific,
Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
This press 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, continue, will, and other words and terms of similar meaning 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
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). These factors include: (1)
difficult conditions in the global capital markets; (2) increased volatility and disruption of the
capital and credit markets, which may affect our ability to seek financing or access our credit
facilities; (3) uncertainty about the effectiveness of the U.S. governments programs to stabilize
the
financial system, the imposition of fees relating thereto, or the promulgation of additional
regulations; (4) impact of
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comprehensive financial services regulation reform on us; (5) exposure
to financial and capital market risk; (6) changes in general economic conditions, including the
performance of financial markets and interest rates, which may affect our ability to raise capital,
generate fee income and market-related revenue and finance statutory reserve requirements and may
require us to pledge collateral or make payments related to declines in value of specified assets;
(7) potential liquidity and other risks resulting from our participation in a securities lending
program and other transactions; (8) investment losses and defaults, and changes to investment
valuations; (9) impairments of goodwill and realized losses or market value impairments to illiquid
assets; (10) defaults on our mortgage loans; (11) the impairment of other financial institutions
that could adversely affect our investments or business; (12) our ability to address unforeseen
liabilities, asset impairments, loss of key contractual relationships, or rating actions arising
from acquisitions or dispositions, including our acquisition of American Life Insurance Company and
Delaware American Life Insurance Company (collectively, ALICO) and to successfully integrate and
manage the growth of acquired businesses with minimal disruption; (13) uncertainty with respect to
the outcome of the closing agreement entered into with the United States Internal Revenue Service
in connection with the acquisition of ALICO; (14) uncertainty with respect to any incremental tax
benefits resulting from the planned elections for ALICO and certain of its subsidiaries under
Section 338 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; (15) the dilutive impact on our
stockholders resulting from the issuance of equity securities in connection with the acquisition of
ALICO or otherwise; (16) economic, political, currency and other risks relating to our
international operations, including with respect to fluctuations of exchange rates; (17) our
primary reliance, as a holding company, on dividends from our subsidiaries to meet debt payment
obligations and the applicable regulatory restrictions on the ability of the subsidiaries to pay
such dividends; (18) downgrades in our claims paying ability, financial strength or credit ratings;
(19) ineffectiveness of risk management
policies and procedures; (20) availability and
effectiveness of reinsurance or indemnification arrangements, as well as default or failure of
counterparties to perform; (21) discrepancies between actual claims experience and assumptions used
in setting prices for our products and establishing the liabilities for our obligations for future
policy benefits and claims; (22) catastrophe losses; (23) heightened competition, including with
respect to pricing, entry of new competitors, consolidation of distributors, the development of new
products by new and existing competitors, distribution of amounts available under U.S. government
programs, and for personnel; (24) unanticipated changes in industry trends; (25) changes in
accounting standards, practices and/or policies; (26) changes in assumptions related to deferred
policy acquisition costs, deferred sales inducements, value of business acquired or goodwill; (27)
increased expenses relating to pension and postretirement benefit plans, as well as health care and
other employee benefits; (28) exposure to losses related to variable annuity guarantee benefits,
including from significant and sustained downturns or extreme volatility in equity markets, reduced
interest rates, unanticipated policyholder behavior, mortality or longevity, and the adjustment for
nonperformance risk; (29) deterioration in the experience of the closed block established in
connection with the reorganization of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; (30) adverse results or
other consequences from litigation, arbitration or regulatory investigations; (31) inability to
protect our intellectual property rights or claims of infringement of the intellectual property
rights of others, (32) discrepancies between actual experience and assumptions used in establishing
liabilities related to other contingencies or obligations; (33) regulatory, legislative or tax
changes relating to our insurance, banking, international, or other operations that may affect the
cost of, or demand for, our products or services, impair our ability to attract and retain talented
and experienced management and other employees, or increase the cost or administrative burdens of
providing benefits to employees; (34) the effects of business disruption or economic contraction
due to terrorism, other hostilities, or natural catastrophes, including any related impact on our
disaster recovery systems and management continuity planning which could impair our ability to
conduct business effectively; (35) the effectiveness of our programs and practices in avoiding
giving our associates incentives to take excessive risks; and (36) other risks and uncertainties
described from time to time in MetLife, Inc.s filings with the SEC.
MetLife, Inc. does not undertake any obligation to publicly correct or update any forward-looking
statement if we later become 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.
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