MetLife names Khalaf chief executive

MetLife Inc. named Michel Khalaf to succeed Steven Kandarian as chief executive officer as the company looks to rebound from missteps that pushed the shares lower last year.

Khalaf, who takes over on May 1, is currently president of the company’s U.S. and Europe, Middle East and Africa businesses, based in New York.

Bolstering investor confidence

A top priority for Khalaf, 54, will be bolstering investor confidence in the insurer, which disclosed in 2017 that it failed to pay thousands of people owed pension payments. That sparked regulatory investigations as MetLife revealed material weaknesses in internal controls and issued a public mea culpa. The shares tumbled 19% last year.

“By accelerating revenue growth, further optimizing our portfolio and strengthening expense discipline, we will become a more financially successful company,” Khalaf said in a statement Tuesday.

The new CEO in July 2017 added responsibility for the U.S. operations, which account for almost 40% of the overall company. He oversees MetLife’s group benefits, retirement and property & casualty businesses in the U.S., as well as individual and group insurance sold through agents, brokers, banks and direct channels in EMEA.

“This is a natural time to make a leadership change,” Mark Dwelle, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients. While Kandarian improved costs and cut volatility, “the company had not yet set any other major strategies in motion apart from cost reductions and buybacks, and this had been an element of investor pushback.”

Before joining MetLife, Khalaf spent 21 years at Alico, a unit of American International Group Inc. that was purchased by MetLife in 2010. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and an MBA in finance from Syracuse University.

The appointment marks the second major change of leadership at one of the largest U.S. life insurers in recent months. Charles Lowrey took over as CEO at rival Prudential Financial Inc. in December. The new chiefs at both firms have a background in international operations.

Kandarian’s tenure oversaw major shift at MetLife

Kandarian, 66, is stepping down after a tenure that oversaw a major shift at MetLife. In a move that veered from his competitors’ strategy, he successfully sued the U.S. government to get rid of the company’s label as too big to fail. He also worked to separate a U.S. retail unit with more than $200 billion in assets, now called Brighthouse Financial Inc., to hone MetLife’s focus on selling insurance through employers and in international markets.

MetLife shares have gained about 2% while Kandarian was CEO. The stock closed up 0.6% to $42.55 Monday.

Glenn Hubbard, a Columbia University economist who is MetLife’s independent lead director, will become its non-executive chairman when Kandarian retires.

Kandarian was named CEO in 2011 after working as chief investment officer, overseeing billions of dollars. Before joining MetLife in 2005, he was executive director at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and at a private equity firm, Orion Partners LP.

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