Meray El-Khoury

MetLife Australia has announced product updates to MetLife Protect and MetLife Protect Super effective from 30 June 2024.

Key changes to income protection and lump sum cover that deliver better value are notable for not triggering a premium increase for existing policies. MetLife believes in providing the best possible product, pricing and service to advisers and their clients, and these product updates reflect that commitment.

Commenting on the changes Chief Insurance Officer Meray El-Khoury said: “We are always looking for ways to make sure MetLife Protect remains a great choice for our customers, and delivering benefits that meet their needs. We do this by making adjustments that ensure our product remains competitive in a changing market. These product upgrades provide more product options and better benefit terms that support a confident financial future with MetLife.”

Changes to MetLife Protect and MetLife Protect Super, include:

• Additional 60-day Waiting Period option for Income Protection for all Benefit Periods and eligible occupations
• Monthly Income Protection benefit calculation to include bonuses, which means customers can be insured for their bonuses, not just salary, and
• $10,000 Death Benefit added to the Own Business Option for Total and Permanent Disability (TPD).

Other changes include more favourable treatment of sick leave and TPD benefit calculations.

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Lina Saliba

MetLife Australia announces the expansion of its award-winning ‘360Health Virtual Care’ with the addition of Fitness and Recovery to its digital offering, which will address one of the leading causes of reduced mobility, lower levels of well-being and reduced ability to properly participate in society or work.

Over one third of all of MetLife’s Total Permanent Disability (TPD) claims are due to musculoskeletal related conditions, such as back injuries and repetitive strain injuries.  Exercise can be effectively used to delay, prevent or alleviate symptoms due to musculoskeletal conditions by designing an exercise program targeted to that individual’s fitness and health needs. Today’s announcement to add Fitness and Recovery will significantly bolster the existing offering by addressing these conditions through access to Exercise Physiologists for personalised programs.

Speaking about the impact this new service will have on MetLife’s customers, Lina Saliba, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer said: “Adding Fitness and Recovery to our solutions suite means we can help more customers access the expert advice and support they need to get back to being active and healthy sooner, while at the same time preventing future illness at no additional cost to them.

“MetLife genuinely thinks about what the customer needs from the customer’s perspective and that is a truly exciting approach, especially with regard 360Health Virtual Care.”

The full suite of 360Health services is available to eligible customers and their families, and all MetLife Australia employees, at no additional cost as part of their life insurance policy and includes the 360Health Virtual Care app for quick and easy access anywhere. Customers do not need to make a claim to access the service, which is all about providing the tools for enabling one to actively managing one’s health for a more confident future.

MetLife is fully focused on developing solutions that help protect and maintain customers’ lifestyles while providing true value to our life insurance customers. MetLife’s 360Health Virtual Care, launched in April 2021, is a suite of services including, in addition to Fitness and Recovery, Nutrition Consultation, Mental Health Assist, Ask a Clinician and Expert Medical Opinion, all of which are designed to help protect customers from serious illness, as well as manage recovery from injury and chronic conditions. Customers are given access to expert global knowledge and specialised medical resources, helping them to be healthier for longer.

MetLife’s 360Health was awarded the 2022 ALUCA Team Innovation award, three 2021 Plan for Life Excellence Awards in the Program Innovation, Outcome Experience and Market View of Health and Wellbeing categories and shortlisted in the Financial Services Council (FSC) Awards for Innovation in Retail Life Insurance category.

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MetLife has been recognised across individual and team award categories, demonstrating the organisation’s strong commitment to delivering exceptional experience to customers, supporting them through challenging times.

MetLife received the following awards:

• Professional Award for Victor Tran, Claims Team Leader
• Rising Star Award for Adrian Argall, Strategy & Recovery Specialist
• Claims Team Award for the MetLife Australia Continuous Improvement Team
• Innovation Team Award for MetLife Australia 360Health Virtual Care

And was also a finalist in these categories:

• Underwriting Team Award for the MetLife Australia Underwriting Team
• Customer Service Team Award for the MetLife Australia Strategy and Recovery Team
• Rising Star Award for Nicholas Laurie, Claims Assessor, Operations

Now in its fifth year, the prestigious ALUCA awards celebrate the value that great life insurance underwriting, claims, rehabilitation and other professionals or services contribute to the industry. The awards also provide an opportunity for the best in the profession to highlight best practice and recognise the fantastic work being done by their peers and colleagues.

Commenting on the MetLife awards, David Campbell, MetLife’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Having several of our individuals and teams win and be nominated for ALUCA Awards is fabulous recognition of the great work of our industry, always doing their best for customers and the community more broadly. I’m proud of how our people have worked together to deliver value, consistently going above and beyond to support customers through their health journey. Our customer focus and dedication to helping them build a more confident future is reflected in these wins.”

The winners were announced by ALUCA at an event on 16 June 2022.

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Richard Nunn

MetLife and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) have announced a two-year partnership, that will see the insurer become a principal partner of the peak body for Australia’s $1.6 trillion profit-to-member superannuation sector.

MetLife will become the exclusive life insurance partner for AIST. Together the two organisations will promote the value of life insurance and the role insurance inside super plays in securing a confident financial future for Australian consumers, while enabling MetLife to support AIST’s leading profit-to-member trustees and superannuation funds.

The two-year partnership will draw on the unique research, insights and expertise of MetLife and AIST to co-create a range of bespoke events designed to educate the industry on the role life insurance plays in helping members engage with their superannuation. MetLife will also feature as the exclusive life insurance partner at AIST’s major events throughout 2022 and 2023.

AIST advocates for financial wellbeing in retirement for all Australians, regardless of their gender, culture, education or socio-economic background, and through leadership and excellence, supports profit-to-member funds to achieve member-first outcomes and fairness across the retirement system.

Commenting on the partnership, Richard Nunn, MetLife CEO, said: “We see a strong alignment of values between our two organisations and our new partnership will allow us to connect with even more industry and profit-to-member funds, which are already a core part of our business. Together we will be advocating for insurance inside super, which is such an important part of our superannuation system, providing financial protection for people throughout their lives. . We’re excited to partner with AIST to build on the work both our organisations have been doing to support superannuation trustees, funds and members.”

Echoing these comments on the partnership, Eva Scheerlinck, AIST CEO, said: “This new partnership with MetLife will be a great opportunity for us to further support our members by engaging more with, and building a greater understanding of the role of, life insurance. The workforce continues to undergo significant change and insurance in super needs to keep pace with these changes. Insurance in super is a lifeline for so many, who find themselves in life changing situations, and we are proud to be partnering with MetLife to ensure that insurance products and services continue to be fit for purpose and deliver great value for super fund members.”

AIST’s members and subscribers are the trustee directors, employees and associates of profit-to-member industry, corporate and government superannuation funds. Through advocacy, policy, research and professional development, AIST is shaping better retirement outcomes for all Australians.

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Allyson Carlile

MetLife Australia has announced the launch of its mental health policy and action plan, to protect, support and promote the mental health and wellbeing of its employees.

The launch of the policy and action plan coincides with Mental Health Month (October) and is built around a series of goals MetLife has committed to achieve, including: increasing employee knowledge and awareness of mental health issues and behaviours; reducing stigma around depression, anxiety and suicide; and encouraging employees’ active participation in a range of initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing.

MetLife has released its new policy at a time when many Australians are facing mental health challenges. According to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australians’ levels of life satisfaction have dropped significantly during the pandemic, and more than a third of people (36.7% in August 2021) report feeling lonely some of the time. The report also found that, on average, mental health has a greater impact on life satisfaction than physical health.

Research^[1] commissioned by MetLife found half of respondents are suffering mental ill health due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 70% of employers say mental health is the most important aspect of employee health to focus on in the wake of the pandemic. MetLife has seen an increase its own employees accessing key mental health services such as the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), demonstrating the increase demand for workplace support.

Allyson Carlile, Head of People & Culture at MetLife Australia, said: “MetLife is committed to promoting positive mental wellbeing, and we believe that supporting the mental health of our employees is key to our organisations’ success and sustainability.

“We want everyone at MetLife to have a role in building a safe and healthy environment and culture. To ensure we are providing meaningful support, we are encouraging our leadership team to share a mental health promise for World Mental Health Day, and asking our staff to actively contribute and provide feedback on our policy. The policy will be reviewed regularly and updated to reflect the needs of our employees.”

Forming part of the action plan, MetLife will continue to partner with SuperFriend to provide employees with access to MySuperFriend, an online learning platform offering a variety of interactive mental health and wellbeing training modules and resources, which can be blended with facilitated workshops to embed skills and capabilities.

MetLife will also create a hub of information and resources including content from the Black Dog Institute, and MetLife’s own, award-winning 360Health program, an end-to-end health solution that includes tools, resources and information for holistic health management, and features Mental Health Assist, a fully digital mental health program for employees and customers.

The launch of MetLife’s mental health strategy comes just days after the organisation was shortlisted in the Mental Health Matters Awards for MetLife’s Crisis Call Management process and tool, launched in December 2020 in partnership with SuperFriend.

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[1] MetLife research conducted between 26 Aug – 11 Sept 2020 and included 339 employers and 1,037 employees.

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The STAR Awards acknowledge excellence in talent acquisition and celebrate the integral role talent and hiring teams play in the success of their organisations.

MetLife was named as a finalist along with some of Australia’s biggest employers for excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Over the last 12 months, MetLife has made significant progress on its Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) agenda including entirely overhaling talent acquisition and delivering initiatives such as gender inclusive bathrooms and D&I learning events, driven by insights from our staff survey.

Allyson Carlile, MetLife Head of People & Culture, said: “We’re thrilled to have been nominated for this award. D&I is important to our organisation because we understand the impact is has on talent acquisition, talent retention and our ability to understand and support our diverse customers.

“We’re really proud of the progress we have made in creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and we’ve seen this reflected in our retention rates and feedback from staff surveys. However, there is always more to do, and we remain focused on excelling in this space.”

Winners of the inaugural SEEK Talent Acquisition Recognition Awards 2021 will be announced in February 2022.

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Richard Nunn

MetLife Australia has released a new report on the role of the life insurance industry for individuals, the economy and society.

The Value of Life Insurance report provides policy makers, regulators, industry participants and other stakeholders with information about the positive impact and contribution of the sector, and is a further step towards increasing financial literacy for Australians.

The report draws from MetLife’s local and global research and seeks to redress perceptions which increase consumer disengagement and contribute to a worrying underinsurance gap, which has been an ongoing and increasing problem for Australia’s working age population.^[1] This gap is further exacerbated by factors impacting life insurance customers such as access to quality, affordable advice and understanding recent legislative changes.

The report explores the role life insurers play as a driver of economic development, and in stabilising the financial system, and provides global comparisons to articulate the affordability of the safety net when misfortunes happen in life. It also connects the industry’s value to a reduced financial burden on governments and taxpayers, who would otherwise need to fund social programs to support those impacted by illness and injury, or families left behind following the death of a loved one.

Richard Nunn, CEO of MetLife Australia, said: “Life insurance serves a noble purpose by providing a vital safety net should the worst happen, but we need to make its value easier for people to understand. The industry is under the microscope, facing significant regulatory change and shifting consumer expectations. Now is the time to work together to adapt, educate and remain relevant.

“It is the responsibility of all industry participants to play a positive role in helping stakeholders understand the value of life insurance and to promote this message to a wider audience. That’s why MetLife’s Value of Life Insurance report is available to all stakeholders, to help them have conversations around value.

“It is imperative we continue to build awareness of the advantages of life insurance, not just to the individual consumer but to the economy and the community.”

Read the full report.

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MetLife, the first organisation to receive five awards in a single year, was recognised for excellence across underwriting, claims and rehabilitation, with individuals and teams being awarded for their contribution to the industry, demonstrating the strength of the organisation’s Operations functions.

The five ALUCA Awards MetLife won are:

1. Leadership Award for Arleen Hatton, Chief Underwriting Officer
2. Underwriting Award for Sonya Strachan, Principal Technical Underwriter
3. Rehabilitation Award for Melissa Colonna, Senior Manager, Strategy and Recovery
4. Underwriting Team Award for MetLife Australia Underwriting Team
5. Claims Team Award for MetLife Claims Leadership Team

David Campbell, MetLife’s Chief Operating Officer, commenting on the awards win said: “We are thrilled that our people have been recognised in this year’s ALUCA Excellence Awards – we have some of the best people in the business. These awards are testament to the fact that we live by our purpose of building a more confident future for our customers. The last year has been one of disruption and our Customer Service and Operations teams have continually stepped up, excelling in their fields of expertise for our customers. We have been innovating across our business, from the new business and underwriting functions right through to claims and recovery.”

Now in its fourth year, the prestigious ALUCA awards celebrate the value that great Life Insurance underwriting, claims, rehabilitation and other professionals or services contribute to the industry. The awards also highlight best practice across the industry and the best in the profession.

The winners were announced by ALUCA at an awards event on Thursday 10 June 2021 in Sydney.

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MetLife Australia’s Senior Internal Auditor, Aoife Donnelly, has been named one of The Banking and Finance Oath (BFO) Young Ambassadors for 2021.

Ms Donnelly was announced as a BFO Young Ambassador, along with ten others from across the financial services and banking industries at an event held last night at The Ethics Centre. The event was also attended by Philip Lowe, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, John Laker AO, Chairman of the BFO and Simon Longstaff AO, Executive Director of The Ethics Centre.

The BFO Young Ambassador Program encourages and supports students and graduates to adopt a strong ethical foundation as they begin their careers in the banking and finance industry. Ms Donnelly is the only BFO Young Ambassador from a life insurance company.

Having graduated from a finance degree in Ireland as the world suffered the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008, Ms Donnelly says, “I saw first-hand how a community suffered financially through the ethical failings of the financial services system.” This experience guided her career and has inspired her to drive high ethical standards from herself and colleagues.

“As a BFO Young Ambassador, I hope to encourage others to restore trust and confidence in the industry. I also want to learn from other BFO Young Ambassadors by engaging in difficult and thought-provoking conversations to inspire continued change in a post-Hayne environment.”

Commenting on the BFO Young Ambassador Program, Head of The BFO, Cris Parker said: ”Recognising the power of the individual, MetLife has taken the lead within the insurance sector by raising awareness of The BFO and supporting Aoife as a Young Ambassador to demonstrate her commitment to ethics and in turn, strengthen the ethical foundation in their organisation.”

MetLife has a long-standing commitment to the BFO and runs an annual campaign to engage staff with the guiding principles of the BFO, achieving a 40% uptake of the Oath in 2020. MetLife has also led the life insurance industry by encouraging others to take the Oath and advocating for improved ethical standards.

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Nathan joins MetLife from the Finance Sector Union, where he has been Assistant National Secretary for almost four years. He brings more than 25 years of experience in politics, including as former Premier of NSW (2008- 2009), and has worked at both the Commonwealth and State (NSW) levels, as policy adviser and Minister.

His new role at MetLife will include responsibility for working with Government and Regulators to help MetLife, and its business partners, in reviewing proposed legislative change for the life insurance industry in Australia.

Commenting on the announcement, Chief of Staff and External Affairs, Wendy Tse, said: “Nathan brings a wealth of policy experience that will help MetLife further engage with key policy stakeholders. MetLife has a long history of actively engaging with government and policy makers to help build a life insurance industry that provides real value to customers and is sustainable. We intend to keep doing this by building strong partnerships and providing valuable insights through our research and data.

As the industry responds to the need for affordable and accessible advice, we will continue to support advisors and their clients, and will promote the value of life insurance for customers and other stakeholders across the life insurance ecosystem.”

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