MetLife finally dips a toe in the Irish market with new offering in employee benefits

The global giant, which has a market cap of $53bn and whose EMEA headquarters is in Dublin, is dipping its toe in the Irish market with a new group life product, typically sold to companies to provide death-in-service payments.

Other employee ­benefit products, such as i­­ncome protection offerings, could follow, says MetLife’s Ireland country lead Wayne Gibbons.

The firm wanted to use the group life product to build its reputation in the Irish market and to grow long-term relationships with employers, employees and brokers.

MetLife has had an Irish base for the past two decades, and it employs about 200 people between its EMEA headquarters in Hatch Street in Dublin and at a technology centre in Galway.

We’ve never sold a product into Ireland, and this is the first step

The firm has licences to sell its products out of Ireland into 12 European markets, including Ireland. But until now, Ireland was the only one of those markets into which it did not sell its products.

“We are really excited to bring MetLife to the Irish market. We’ve had a presence in Ireland since 2006 when we located our EMEA headquarters here so we’re really excited to finally bring a product to the market.

“We’ve never sold a product into Ireland, and this is the first step on that journey,” said Gibbons.

“For us, it’s about going to market, showcasing our technology and our customer service and building relationships with brokers. It’s about getting the brand out, putting the footprint down, and seeing where we go from there.”

“We’ll do that across year one, year two… we’ll get a feel for the market and let people get a feel for us, understand who we are, what we’re about – and then we’ll go from there.”

MetLife’s group life cover provides financial protection for employees’ families in the case of a bereavement.

The launch introduces MetLife’s 360health to Ireland, allowing employers offer virtual GP access and well-being programmes.

In Europe, Metlife is focused on the more niche employee benefits market rather than the wider pensions or health market and the Irish offering is likely to stick to this template, he said.

“We see Ireland as a really attractive opportunity, not least because there is full employment and employers are actively looking for ways to reward employees,” Gibbons added.