Dear Colleagues,

It is my immense pleasure to wish you and your family a happy and prosperous year ahead. MetLife India has done well in 2011. The year 2012 will be the inflexion point for MetLife India to be able to grow and increase its profits substantially to meet its vision of becoming a ‘Top-tier Life Insurance Company’ in the country. As a company, we are financially strong, have a well balanced product portfolio and our distribution is well poised to deliver substantial growth.

We continued to remain profitable in 2011 and continue to grow our sales month on month. Our AUM has consistently increased and today stands at a strong 7772 Crores. Our new partnership with PNB has had a resounding start and we have done a record-breaking business with Punjab National Bank within 40 days of launch.

All these achievements were against a backdrop of an overall decline in the industry where all large insurance players have witnessed a significant decline in premium income. However, MetLife India moved forward undeterred and produced solid results. We should take these as mere milestones and it should become the way we do business.

Going forward, we have identified the following drivers of success for 2012:

Launch and establish Punjab National Bank
Grow, transform and improve productivity of our Agency business
Protect and grow Existing Bank Partners
Acquire new distribution partners
Leverage global and acquire domestic partnerships to grow Employee Benefits business
Maintain Persistency levels to build long term value in the company
Manage expense ratios

The environment in 2011 is likely to continue in 2012 and we should take it as ‘Business as usual’. We are in a much stronger position and we should be able to overcome any challenges, given our multichannel distribution and a national footprint that we have now acquired with PNB.

To be a top tier Life insurance company, particularly in the scenario of reduced growth rates, we will have to push ourselves, as we have the required resources and experience to build a solid base for our business in this year.

We have the best talent in the industry all of whom are highly motivated to do the best for the company. Recent surveys showed that 84% of our employees are extremely proud to work for MetLife. I too am proud to be a part of this organization and lead a team that has delivered all the above and together we will take this company to even greater heights. I look forward to your commitment to establish MetLife as a ‘Top tier Life Insurance Company’ in India.

The best is yet to come!

Regards,
Rajesh Relan
Managing Director & Country Manager
MetLife India Insurance Co. Ltd.