LIMRA and MetLife Co-Host 2nd Annual Agent Retention and Productivity Forum

WINDSOR, Conn., Dec. 7, 2011 — LIMRA partnered with MetLife, one of the largest life insurers in the U.S., to host the second annual industry Agent Retention and Productivity Forum at MetLife’s headquarters last week in New York City.

“Consumers want help making financial decisions. The latest LIMRA research shows that consumers overwhelmingly prefer face-to-face – even when you look at Gen X and Y consumers, six out of 10 prefer to face-to-face interaction when making financial decisions,” said Robert Kerzner, president and CEO, LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global. “However, advances in technology will alter how advisors meet with their clients – or even how we define face-to-face. As an industry, we must better leverage technology to engage consumers, attract and train new agents and improve the productivity of our current field force. We are pleased to partner with MetLife again to hold this forum of distribution leaders to discuss the latest research in distribution, identify the best practices and establish new metrics that will set updated standards for measuring productivity and retention.”

The forum included roundtable discussions on the impact of new consumer perceptions and expectations of insurance sales professionals and financial advisors; innovative recruiting and retention models to address the existing dynamic business environment; and an in-depth look at how social media is affecting regulation and distribution.

“As an industry, we must continually evolve our recruiting and retention strategies to attract the best while staying on top of the technology advancements and regulatory standards that affect our agents day-to-day. A forum such as this brings innovators in the industry, such as LIMRA, together so that we may all learn from one another,” said Michael J. Vietri, MetLife executive vice president for Individual Distribution.

This event was open to LIMRA members only. Participants included distribution leaders and business analysts from insurance companies nationwide.

LIMRA Contacts:

Donna G. Sullivan, 860-285-7875, dsullivan@limra.com
Catherine Theroux, 860-285-7787, ctheroux@limra.com

MetLife Contact:

Jessica Ong, 212 -578-2154, jong@metlife.com

About LIMRA

LIMRA is a worldwide research, consulting and professional development organization that helps more than 850 insurance and financial services companies in 73 countries increase their marketing and distribution effectiveness. Visit LIMRA at www.limra.com.

About MetLife

MetLife is a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), a leading provider of insurance, employee benefits and financial services with operations throughout the United States and the Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife, Inc. reaches more than 70 million customers around the world and MetLife is the largest life insurer in the United States (based on life insurance in-force). The MetLife companies offer life insurance, annuities, auto and home insurance, retail banking and other financial services to individuals, as well as group insurance and retirement & savings products and services to corporations and other institutions. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.