A major northeastern-based life insurer has announced the repositioning of two top executives following a reorganization of the company.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York (NYSE: MET), says it has reassigned Michael Farrell, the head of U.S. distribution. Henceforth, Farrell will occupy a position in MetLife's Global Employee Benefits unit, according to a company spokesperson.
The spokesperson adds that Eric Steigerwalt, MetLife's interim chief financial officer, will head all of the company's retail business in the Americas region once a new CFO is named.
The executive changes follow MetLife's announcement on November 21 that it was reorganizing its businesses from a U.S. and international business structure into three broad geographic regions. These include the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Asia.
The company spokesperson says the organization was undertaken to "better reflect the company's global reach." The spokesperson adds that the restructuring, which is still underway, aims to transform the company from a life-only-focused insurer to a "global insurance and employee benefits provider."
Company executives were unavailable to comment further on the management changes, the spokesperson says.
The news also comes on the heels of MetLife's announcement in December that it had overshot its variable annuities sales target of $18 billion. According to Americas division head William Wheeler, MetLife's VA sales for 2011 would be well north of $20 billion.
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