Report on

MetLife Bangladesh
Course Name: Insurance & Risk Management
Course Code: FIN – 3101

Submitted to
Md. Imran Hossain
Assistant Professor
Department of Finance
Jagannath University

Submitted by
Group - 05

Name ID Number
Mahedi Hasan B170203006
Fahim Shahriar B170203013
Fariha Tasnim B170203062
Monorom Polok B170203063
Rohama Akter B170203097
Shakila Afroz Farha B160203006
Mahbuba Sultana Shahin Farah B160203115

12th Batch, 3rd Year, 1st Semester

Department of Finance
Jagannath University

Date: February 23, 2020

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 Letter of Transmittal

February 23, 2020

To
Md. Imran Hossain
Assistant Professor
Department of Finance
Jagannath University, Dhaka

Subject: Submission of the report on ‘MetLife Bangladesh’.

Sir,

This is our great pleasure to have the opportunity to submit the report on “MetLife
Bangladesh” as a part of our course study. The report is prepared based on the conversations
with the employees of MetLife Bangladesh, published reports, websites, articles of renowned
newspapers and other related documents and the documents collected from library. Through
our best sincerity we have tried to uptake all the related issues in the report within several
limitations.

We sincerely hope and believe that these findings will be able to meet the requirements of the
course. Therefore, we would like to place this report for your kind judgment and valuable
suggestion.

Sincerely

Shakila Afroz farha

ID No: B160203006
On Behalf of the students of Group: 05
Department of Finance
Jagannath University

2
 Acknowledgement

The successful completion of this report on “MetLife Bangladesh” has been possible for many
helping hands. First of all, we would like to express gratitude to the Almighty. Then all the
people who were involved both directly and indirectly in the preparation of this report. We
apologize to the people whose names that have not mentioned, and their contribution is highly
appreciated by us. At first, we would like to thank our course instructor Md. Imran Hossain,
Assistant Professor, Department of Finance, Jagannath University. We sincerely appreciate his
interest and valuable guidance in preparing this resourceful report, and his significance
assistance in choosing the topic of our report. More specifically, we would like to thank him for
imparting his time and wisdom.

We would like to convey thanks to the employees of MetLife Bangladesh, who spent their
valuable time to provide us information about their company. We are also thankful to our
fellow students, who helped us a lot to prepare the report.

In essence, we would like to say that this report on MetLife Bangladesh helped us largely in
acquiring useful insights to highly utilize our academic knowledge in terms of practical
orientation. Moreover, as our report was of very much practical and early effectual in nature,
the assistance from all our guides made us able to apply easily the concepts and tools into
practical field.

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 Table of Contents

Letter of Transmittal ................................................................................................................................ 2

Acknowledgement................................................................................................................................... 3
Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Glossary .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 7
Chapter – 01 ............................................................................................................................................ 8
1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 8
1.2 Origin of the Report ................................................................................................................. 9
1.3 Background .............................................................................................................................. 9
1.4 Objectives of the Report .......................................................................................................... 9
1.5 Scope of the Report ................................................................................................................. 9
1.6 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 9
1.7 Mission of the Report ............................................................................................................. 10
1.8 Vision of the Report ............................................................................................................... 10
1.9 Goals of the report ................................................................................................................. 11
1.10 Limitations of the Report........................................................................................................ 11
Chapter – 02 .......................................................................................................................................... 12
2.1 Company Profile..................................................................................................................... 12
2.1.1 History & Background ..................................................................................................... 12
2.1.2 Board of Directors .......................................................................................................... 13
2.1.3 Creating Employment ..................................................................................................... 13
2.2 Unique Goals to Accomplish ................................................................................................... 14
2.3 Insurance Products & Services ................................................................................................ 14
2.4 Apart from the corporate world ............................................................................................. 15
Chapter – 03 .......................................................................................................................................... 18
3.1 Strengths of MetLife Bangladesh ............................................................................................ 18
3.2 Problems of Insurance Business in perspective of MetLife Bangladesh ................................... 20
Inadequate Intervention of Regulatory Authority ........................................................................... 20
Non-Listed Company on Dhaka Stock Exchange ............................................................................. 21

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 Inconvenient Infrastructure ........................................................................................................... 21
Management Information System (MIS) ........................................................................................ 22
Kinship with the Parent Company in US ......................................................................................... 23
Image Crisis of the Insurance Industry............................................................................................ 23
Communication Gap ...................................................................................................................... 24
Lack of Awareness ......................................................................................................................... 25
3.3 Prospects of Insurance Business in perspective of MetLife Bangladesh ................................... 26
Unemployment problem of Bangladesh ......................................................................................... 26
Diversification and Digitalization .................................................................................................... 27
Awareness programs about life insurance ...................................................................................... 28
Economic Development ................................................................................................................. 28
Introduction of Proper Agency System Reduces the Risk of Corruption .......................................... 29
Microinsurance .............................................................................................................................. 29
Spreading Business in Rural Areas .................................................................................................. 30
Bancassurance ............................................................................................................................... 30
Chapter - 04 .......................................................................................................................................... 32
4.1 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 32
4.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 32
4.2.1 Recommendations to the Regulatory Authority: ............................................................ 32
4.2.2 Recommendations to MetLife Bangladesh: ..................................................................... 33
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 35

Table of Figures

Figure 1 Journey of MetLife in a Nutshell ............................................................................................... 12

Figure 2 Percentage of Insurance Penetration in Asian Countries........................................................... 25

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 Glossary

1. ALICO: American Life Insurance Company

2. Fortune 500: FORTUNE 500 is a registered trademark of FORTUNE magazine, a division of

Time, Inc.

3. DPS: Deposit Pension Scheme

4. Insurer: The party in an insurance contract undertaking to pay compensation.

5. Insuree: The person or entity protected by or receiving insurance provided by the insurer.

6. IRDA: Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority; only government body for

regulating and developing the insurance sector of Bangladesh.

7. BIA: Bangladesh Insurance Academy, established in 1973, only public training institute

imparting insurance training and education for the employees.

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 Executive Summary
The report on “MetLife Bangladesh” has been prepared based on qualitative research as
fulfillment of the course requirement. In a developing country like Bangladesh, different
insurance companies are playing a very crucial role in the economic growth. Though insurance
industry has significant prospects in the economy but for some reasons it has failed to achieve
its goal to some extent.

There are 62 insurance companies in Bangladesh. Out of theme 18 are Life Insurance
Companies including 1 foreign company and 1 is state-owned company, 44 General Insurance
Companies including 1 state-owned company. Among them, MetLife Bangladesh is the only
foreign life insurance company operating in this country since 1952, then known as ALICO. A
qualitative research has been conducted to gather required information where we have taken
interviews of several employees of MetLife Bangladesh. The entire report has been categorized
into four chapters.

In chapter one, the introduction, scope, objective, methodology, goals and limitations of the
report have been described.

Chapter two of the report focuses fully on MetLife Bangladesh—the company overview, history
of establishment, introduction to its key persons, vision, detailed description of offered services
and community projects.

Chapter three is the most important part of this report. Here, we have analyzed the collected
information to point out MetLife’s strengths to compete in the market, problems faced by the
whole insurance sector in perspective of MetLife Bangladesh and prospects of this company to
thrive in the future.

Finally, Chapter four contains some thoughtful recommendations to the concerned authorities
to deal with the difficulties of insurance industry.

At the end, it can be said that MetLife Bangladesh is one of the leading life insurance companies
in the insurance industry. It has owned reputation and market. For sustaining in the insurance
industry, it needs to focus on the innovation and development by competing itself so that it can
uplift its own standard from the previous standard.

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 Chapter – 01
1.1 Introduction

Insurance is a system of spreading the risk of one to the shoulders of many. It is a contract
whereby the insurers, on receipt of a consideration known as premium, agree to indemnify the
insured against losses arising out of certain specified unforeseen contingencies or perils insured
against.
Insurance as a business began almost a century back. There are basically 2 types of flows
existing in insurance industry of Bangladesh. These are: Life insurance & General insurance.
Insurance business gained momentum in East Pakistan during 1947-1971, when 49 insurance
companies transacted both life and general insurance schemes. These companies were of
various origins, i.e. British, Australian, Indian, West Pakistani and local. Ten insurance
companies had their head offices located in East Pakistan, 27 in West Pakistan, and the rest
were located outside Bangladesh. These were mostly limited liability companies. Some of these
companies were specialized in dealing in a particular class of business, while others were
composite companies that dealt in more than one class of business. After independence, the
government of Bangladesh nationalized insurance industry in 1972 by the Bangladesh Insurance
(Nationalization) Order 1972. By virtue of this order, insurance business in the country were
placed in the public sector under five corporations. These corporations were: -

1. The Jatiya Bima Corporation

2. Tista Bima Corporation
3. Karnafuli Bima Corporation
4. Rupsa Jiban Bima Corporation and
5. Surma Jiban Bima Corporation

According to Insurance Corporations Act 1973, in place of five corporations the government
formed two:

1. Sadharan Bima Corporation for general insurance.

2. Jiban Bima Corporation for life insurance.

The Insurance Corporations Act 1973 was amended in 1984 to allow insurance companies in
the private sector to operate side by side with Sadharan Bima Corporation and Jiban Bima
Corporation.

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1.2 Origin of the Report

The report is entitled “Problems and Prospects of MetLife Bangladesh”. The objective of the
report is to prepare us to face the complex situation of insurance industry in this country and
international, and to enable us to implement the theoretical concepts into practical scenario.

1.3 Background

Insurance sector is extending its hand in different areas from time to time. At the same time the
insurance process is becoming faster, easier and the insurance arena becoming wider. As the
demand for better service increases day by day, they are coming with different innovative ideas
and products. In order to survive in the competitive field of the insurance sector, all insurance
organization are looking for better service opportunities to provide their fellow clients. As a
result, it has become essential for every person to have some idea on the insurance.

1.4 Objectives of the Report

 To gather comprehensive knowledge on insurance activities;

 To identify the problem regarding product activities of MetLife Bangladesh;
 To find out the prospects of MetLife Bangladesh;
 To make some recommendations to the problems regarding activities of MetLife
Bangladesh;

1.5 Scope of the Report

This report has been prepared through extensive discussion with insurance employees and with the
clients. While preparing this report, we had a great opportunity to have an in-depth knowledge of all the
insurance activities of a leading private insurance in Bangladesh.

1.6 Methodology

The report has been written on the basis of information collected from primary as well as
secondary sources. The primary information has been collected from the personnel. In this
case, we have used physical attendance to get positive, negative both sides. Then we got the
relevant data for the required project. To carry out the proposed study, data have been

9
collected from two sources: Primary and secondary sources. The details of the work plan are
furnished below:

 Data Sources:

The information and data for this report have been collected from both the primary and
secondary sources.

The primary sources are as follows:

 Primary data for this study have been collected through a well-prepared questionnaire,
which contains both open and close-ended questions. Several ways of collecting data
have been used like, face-to-face interviews with the respondents, questionnaire
surveyed;
 Face-to-face conversation with clients who visited the branch;
 Relevant field study as provided by the officer concern.

The secondary sources are as follows:

 Published reports of MetLife Bangladesh;
 Website of MetLife Bangladesh;
 Different manual published by MetLife Bangladesh;
 Different circular sent by head office.
 Articles on MetLife Bangladesh published on newspapers.

1.7 Mission of the Report

This report is prepared primarily to fulfill the Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A)
degree requirement under the Department of Finance, Jagannath University and to know and
the overall activities of the MetLife Bangladesh and to identify associated problems in the
observations & research and to recommend actions required to mitigate the problematic
situation in the insurance industry and also to come up with the exact information about the
regulatory system from both the business point of view and the regulators point of view.

1.8 Vision of the Report

The vision of this report is to provide a brief overview of MetLife Bangladesh and their historical
background and to know about their available products and services. Besides, this report
provides an opportunity to analyze the problems of this company and to find out their crucial

10
points for growth, and also to present our observation and suggestion to the insurance
company.

1.9 Goals of the report

The goals of the report are to provide a suitable environment for us to:

 Discover career interests and aptitudes in meaningful work activities;

 Apply the acquired academic experience in a real-world workplace;
 Develop a sense of professional ethics and to apply discipline-related knowledge to the field;
 Develop an understanding about the demands of the workplace and an appreciation of both
employees’ and employer’s rights and duties.

1.10 Limitations of the Report

The preparation of this report was not an easy task. We had to face some problems &
limitations during the preparation of this report despite the fact that we have tried best to
prepare this project successfully. The limitations were:

 Getting the information and interpreting it, on the basis of understanding and then
implementing it;
 Quite difficult for us to understand the financial terms;
 There were several departments for that reason we faced difficulties while collecting
information from those departments;
 Confidential information that no organizations inclined to share due to their business
interest was another limitation;
 Data from different sources were quite inconsistent which created some problems in
making the report & compelled us to verify the data diligently.

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 Chapter – 02
2.1 Company Profile

2.1.1 History & Background

The largest name synonymous with reliable insurance Bangladesh is none other than MetLife.
MetLife Bangladesh is the largest life insurer in the country. It is a fortune 500 Company having
it’s headquarter in New York, the U.S. Starting its journey in this region since before the
independence of Bangladesh in 1952, it was popularly known as ‘ALICO’. In November of 2010
due to its acquisition by MetLife, Inc. it was rebranded as ‘MetLife ALICO’ until 2015, when it
was again renamed to find its current identity ‘MetLife Bangladesh’.

Figure 1 Journey of MetLife in a Nutshell

MetLife was established in the USA in 1864. On January 6, 1915, MetLife completed
the metallization process, changing from a stock life insurance company owned by individuals
to a mutual company operating without external shareholders and for the benefit of
policyholders. After 85 years as a mutual company, MetLife demutualized into a publicly traded

12
company with an initial public offering in 2000. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife
holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia’s Pacific region,
Europe, and the Middle East. MetLife serves 90 of the largest FORTUNE 500 companies. The
company’s principal offices are located at 200 Park Avenue, New York City in Midtown
Manhattan, New York City, though it retains some executive offices and its boardroom in
the MetLife Building, located at 200 Park Avenue, New York City, which it sold in 2005.

On November 1, 2010, MetLife, Inc. completed its purchase of American Life Insurance
Company (ALICO). This deal brings together two well-established, international businesses with
proven track records of growth. The combination creates a global life insurance and employee
benefits powerhouse and will give our customers even more ways to protect their future.
Together, they are offering:

 A broader portfolio of products serving more people in more areas

 Innovative products and services, delivered with a proven record of local know-how
 The financial strength of the premier global life insurer

Though ALICO is now known as MetLife-ALICO, but still the offers, benefits, products and
services will remain same for the clients of ALICO.

2.1.2 Board of Directors

Key Managerial Roles are fulfilled by:

I. Syed Hammadul Karim

General Manager, Bangladesh
II. Jafar Sadeque Chowdhury
Chief Distribution Officer
III. Nafis Akhter Ahmed
Chief Agency Officer
IV. Ala Uddin
Chief Financial Officer

2.1.3 Creating Employment

As of now, MetLife Bangladesh serves well over a million customers and as a result is also one
of the largest employers in Bangladesh with 16000 employees, both in the fields and at the
offices. It has been the market leader since 1997. The total number of sales offices is 9 while

13
number of customer touch points is 14. It has a staggering number of 217 touch points, which is
one of the highest as an insurance company.

MetLife has an AAA Credit Rating in Bangladesh and has been awarded the Top Tax Payers’
award from National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh.

2.2 Unique Goals to Accomplish

MetLife follows a number of ambitious goals that differentiate it from others such as:

Making a Difference -- Striving to ensure that every employee feels they can make a
meaningful difference to the success of the business and the lives of their customers.

Succeeding Together – MetLife offers a supportive and collaborative work environment locally
and globally

Leading The Way – MetLife considers itself as an innovative company with the strength, scope
and talent to lead an ever-changing industry.

2.3 Insurance Products & Services

MetLife offers financial protection to the people of Bangladesh pension schemes, children’s
education policy; Shariah based (Takaful) saving schemes and accident and health products. The
products are designed to suit people of different age groups, professions and income ranges.

MetLife Bangladesh provides three savings plan with life insurance policy, such as:

Plan Features

Maturity Value + Life Coverage + Accidental Coverage + Critical Illness

DPS Super Gold
and Waiver of Premium Benefits

DPS Super Silver Maturity Value + Life Coverage + Accidental Coverage

DPS Super Bronze Maturity Value + Accidental Coverage

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2.4 Apart from the corporate world

Outside the comfortable corporate world MetLife has had tremendous contribution to the
community of Bangladesh. For this MetLife Foundation was established with the purpose of
enriching MetLife’s contributions to the community. Since its establishment, MetLife
Foundation granted more than $670 million and another $70 million in program-related
investments to organizations to address issues that have a positive impact in their communities
internationally. The Foundation is currently dedicated to advancement of financial inclusion,
committing $200 million to help build a secure future for individuals and communities around
the world.
MetLife Foundation is supporting BURO, CONCERN Worldwide, SAJIDA Foundation, Swiss
contact and Sesame Workshop towards achieving financial inclusion goals in Bangladesh
Exclusively. The foundation is also supporting an epic project with Asian University for Women
to promote women leadership in the region and a project with Habitat for Humanity, where the
MetLife volunteers build home for low income families or individuals which have had its fair
share of appraisal. In addition, the Foundation runs Pathways Scholarship Program for children
of MetLife employees and financial associates to support their higher education.

Some of the community based on-going national project profiles are listed below:

1. Concern Worldwide:

Project Name: Graduation of Extreme Poor Engaging in Business and Finance (GEP-EBF).

Grant Description: With this grant, Concern Worldwide will bring around 1000 households out
of extreme poverty through its graduation pathway model over three years. This is a
comprehensive support and handholding program with a focus on women and households
living in extreme poverty.

2. BFA (Bankable Frontier Associates) and SAJIDA Foundation:

Project Name: Building Portfolios for the Poor

Grant Description: Through this grant, BFA is partnering with Sajida Foundation, an NGO-MFI in
Bangladesh to equip them with analytic tools and technical know-how to better serve their
clients through targeted products and delivery channels. By "cross-selling" multiple financial
products, microfinance organizations can improve and ensure client retention, secure their
niche against larger competitors, and better serve their clients.

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 3. Swisscontact:

Project Name: Financial Inclusion for Readymade Garment Workers in Bangladesh.

Grant Description: MetLife Foundation is supporting swisscontact to improve financial

knowledge of 7500 readymade garment factory workers (mostly women) through
counseling/social campaign drive and activate bank-based transactions for 1100 workers during
the 15 month pilot phase. The increased knowledge and adoption of improved financial
planning and access to banking support will enable customers maintain their own credit history
that can be critical for availing competitive credit offers (products) and, in the long term, to
plan for financial security in times of hardship or crisis.

4. Sesame Workshop:

Project Name: Dream, Save, Do: Financial Empowerment for Families

Grant Description: Through this grant, Sesame and MetLife Foundation have developed the
innovative, multi-media initiative “Dream, Save, Do: Financial Empowerment for Families” to
help children and parents have aspirations, set goals, make plans, save money, and understand
how everyday choices can help achieve dreams.

5. Financial Inclusion Projects

BURO and Micro-Save:

Project Name: Mobile Banking & Agent Network

Through this initiative, MetLife Foundation is supporting the design and test of the technology
enabled business model for their existing and new clients with a goal to improve operational
efficiency, lesser risks and offer a wider range of convenient and affordable financial services.
By developing and testing sustainable digital banking models, BURO will be able to serve their
1.4 million customers seeking flexible, convenient financial services.

6. Non-Financial Inclusion Initiatives:

Habitat for Humanity:

Project Name: Kancha Haat a Paka Bari

Beyond financial inclusion aspiration MetLife Foundation is also supporting the cause of Habitat
for Humanity by engaging its associates in building homes for the poor and marginalized people
in Bangladesh. This is flagship program that takes place every year to boost the employee moral
by engaging them in volunteering actions. From MetLife Foundation’s financial inclusion

16
perspective, helping lower income families stabilize housing costs and encouraging
homeownership as asset building are effective tactics for increasing financial health.

7. MetLife Foundation Pathways Scholarship:

Under this scholarship scheme in 2015 there were in total 30 successful applicants. They are
the children of Financial Associates and Employees of MetLife in Bangladesh. Out of 30
successful applications 27 are the children of MetLife’s field force and 03 are the children of
MetLife employees.

In 2016 there were in total 21 successful applicants. They are the children of Financial
Associates and Employees of MetLife in Bangladesh. Out of 21 successful applications 20 are
the children of MetLife’s field force and 01 is the child of MetLife employee.

8. Asia University for Women:

Asian University for Women (AUW) is an independent, international university in Chittagong,

Bangladesh that working to educate a new generation of leaders in Asia. MetLife Foundation
has approved a grant to Asia University for Women Support Foundation over next 2-3 years
targeting 470 enrolled students annually.

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 Chapter – 03
3.1 Strengths of MetLife Bangladesh

Even though the concept as well as the company comes from America, MetLife has successfully
adopted it to suit the needs and expectations of Bangladeshi people and have reached the top
position in the country.

More than a million Bangladeshis depend on MetLife Insurance Company with thousands of
agents working for them, which have also created local jobs. All sorts of insurance plans are
available to suit everybody’s need in the society. MetLife offers financial protection to the
people of Bangladesh pension schemes, children’s education policy; Shariah based (Takaful)
saving schemes and accident and health products. The products are designed to suit people of
different age groups, professions and income ranges

Constant pursuit of sui-table strategies has made the company a leading insurer of Bangladesh
for over a decade. Their dividend rate is the highest in the insurance industry of Bangladesh for
the last couple of years. They have built up a strong financial base as well as massive
reinsurance protection to absorb any size of risk of any diversification. MetLife Bangladesh has
recently been assigned the highest rated (AAA) Financial strength by Credit Rating Agency of
Bangladesh (CRAB).

MetLife constantly exemplifies the significance of financial strength and productivity indexes
that underline its reliability, always serving the real interests of its insured. The company has a
unique know-how and enormous international experience that allows it to preserve its
innovative character, constituting a criterion of values. The eligibility criteria for a product may
vary depending on the type of policy someone wants to buy. It’s a good idea to review the
cover someone has on a regular basis, at least once a year.

The company examines the economic and financial marketplace and manages the company’s
investment according to the guidelines established by the company’s management. According
to the Insurance Act 30% of the total liability of a life insurance company has to be invested in
government securities where remaining to be invested in other approved investment including
capital market securities. The company has a prudent investment philosophy.

The company has a sound and separate IT department. Different software handles different
crucial functions. The existing IT infrastructure can generate different reports which include
production report, agent’s persistency report, commission statement, trial balance, general
ledger report, status wise policy cont., detail premium collection, various notices to
policyholders etc. The company continuously upgrades servers and storage devices and it has

18
separated IT audit system. For disaster recovery, the company maintains servers and backups in
different locations.

The company possesses the largest and well developed marketing network consisting of around
200 agencies and unit offices along with 5 sales offices at Cumilla, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna &
Bogra and 4 customer touch points at Gulshan, Malibagh, Uttara & Mirpur. Apart from
managing sales, these sales offices also provide customer services and are connected to the
central server at Head Office. Expert Agency Executives, who are responsible for sales, maintain
the portfolio of agencies under the guidance of Agency Director. The company has a separate
marketing department that prepares advertising campaigns and promotional programs. The
department also works with other departments in the company to develop new products and
to revise current ones as customer needs, economic conditions and regulatory requirements
change. The company recently launched an up-to-date contact center (call center) to minimize
policy lapse and pursue customers for up- sell and cross-sell.

As an insurance company, these are some of MetLife’s notable strengths:

 Sufficient Capital
 Brand value
 Security of money
 Wide range of policies
 Varied range of services and products
 Marketing research facility
 Availability of financing & efficient financial structure
 Major player in insurance sector
 New technology
 Skilled agent
 Efficient administration
 Regularity in service
 Advertisement & publicity
 Located in reputed areas
 Has its presence in 60 countries with a customer base of 90 million
 Customer care
 Over 65,000 employee

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3.2 Problems of Insurance Business in perspective of MetLife
Bangladesh

Though insurance industry is flourishing since the independence of Bangladesh, it has been
facing obstacles to operate business here. Some problems are common for all insurance
company, and some are unique for individual companies. These obstacles hinder the growth of
insurance industry, and thus create a negative impact on the economic development of
Bangladesh.

Inadequate Intervention of Regulatory Authority

 Failure to protect the customers

In Bangladesh, insurance regulatory environment is not friendly enough towards the

development of insurance industry. According to the regulatory authority’s monitoring rules, if
an insurance company fails to pay the claimed money within 90 working days, the insuree can
file complain against it and the insurer can be sued for fine. But, due to the complexities in the
process, complains are not always filed and victims remain deprived of justice, which creates
mistrust towards the insurance industry.

In November 2018, Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) reported that
insurance claims of TK 914 crore were unsettled out of TK 2760 crore. And MetLife Bangladesh
was responsible for 46 per cent of unsettled claims, which was the highest rate at that time.
Blaming poor return from investment, IDRA didn’t take any legal action against this company
which could benefit those policyholders. As a result, those policyholders will lose trust not only
on MetLife Bangladesh, but on the whole insurance business.

 Lack of training programs

There is no training institute set up by the government where insurance officers can receive
training to develop their career and thus, insurance companies can get skilled manpower.
Effective and honest insurers are very crucial to maintain the transparency and standard of the
business. Though MetLife arranges training programs and workshops for its employees, it is not
enough. Employees must receive some incentives to stay moral and do clean business. In this
regard, Professors of Department of Banking and Insurance of Dhaka University (DU) proposed
to Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA) that rewarding the best employees should be
practiced so that they stay motivated towards the betterment of the company as well as the
customers. But BIA did not show any interest in this matter.

20
Non-Listed Company on Dhaka Stock Exchange

According to the Insurance Act 2010, the insurance companies registered abroad must have Tk
300 million in paid-up capital to issue shares in the market, but the money has to be collected
from outside Bangladesh. This act did not allow the foreign insurance companies to collect
money from the general public of this country. This certain act stops MetLife Bangladesh from
collecting fund from the local people by issuing shares. So, there is no chance for this company
to be listed in the stock market according to the current insurance law.

Government gave an ultimatum in September, 2019 for the non-listed insurance companies to
get listed. But it was not possible for MetLife Bangladesh to do so. Authorities are trying for a
long time to bring multinational companies into the stock markets for the supply of good issues
to investors. As a huge number of multinational companies are operating in Bangladesh,
investors would have got profitable returns by investing in those companies’ shares. The
finance ministry of Bangladesh government stated that Bangladesh's stock market lacks good
issues as many big local and foreign companies did not divest shares in the stock market
because of the barrier of the law. Unless the law is amended, MetLife Bangladesh will never be
able to go public through Initial Public Offering (IPO) process. And this causes a huge
opportunity cost for Bangladeshi investment.

Inconvenient Infrastructure

Most branches of MetLife Bangladesh can be found in Dhaka and Chittagong. The number of
branches keeps decreasing as one tries to find them in the remote places. There is only one
branch of this company operating in districts like Chuadanga, Nilphamari, Panchagorh etc. Lack
of operations in the remote areas is not the fault of MetLife Bangladesh only. The infrastructure
of this country is not convenient enough for the large companies to operate business in every
district equitably. Companies depend on infrastructure to deliver services. They need to
communicate with the central offices and their customers effectively, which is not possible for
the poor communication system in the rural areas. There is not enough number of banks,
reliable courier services or postal offices in every district of Bangladesh. As a result, it is difficult
for the company to render services in those areas. People of those areas are getting deprived of
insurance facilities as well as the insurance company is unable to penetrate the new market and
expand business.

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Management Information System (MIS)

A management information system is a computerized database of business information

organized in such a way that it produces regular reports on operations for every level of
management in a company. For the insurance company to develop its business, digitalization is
a must. So MetLife Bangladesh has implemented Management Information System to handle its
informational database, which has feed to the need of digitalization, as well as created some
problems in its operation. These MIS based problems are discussed below:

 MIS culture

Conceptually, management information systems are all about business. They collect and
process information in a way that helps the company to better manage their resources and
create growth. However, MIS systems are based on science &technology. Business, on the
other hand, is frequently based on the judgment and intuition of its owners, even if those
owners use data and science to guide their decision-making. This causes a cultural disconnect.

 Scaling MIS

MIS tools and equipment are installed according to the size and load of the business. Very large
MIS infrastructures can handle varying organizational sizes easily. On the other hand, systems
that run on a single computer for a very small business can also serve those organizations well
with tools that are easy to use. But, as MetLife is in such a position where it can’t grow shrink or
stand still, it will continue to expand. Thus, business might constantly outgrow its MIS software
in size and scope, which will cause the company a great expense to continuously update and
reinstall the system

 Integrating MIS

It is crucial for the workers to use the MIS system efficiently. MetLife Bangladesh uses Customer
Relationship Management program to manage their sales forces. CRM software enables the
company to keep record of detail information on every customer, so that managers can use
them. For the process to be effective, the service & sales representatives must report their
activities through the software. But this process sometimes breaks down, and activities aren’t
reported through the software.

 Staffing

For management information systems to work, they need skilled employees. At the high level,
MIS requires business professionals who understand how to use technology to drive business

22
goals. Keeping the system running and safe from intruders takes server administrators, network
engineers, and security experts and help desk personnel. But, there is no IT training institute
where employees for these designations can receive training to effectively handle technological
issues. While some areas of IT have an adequate labour pool, others are prone to worker
shortages, making it challenging, expensive or both to find skilled workers to keep MIS working.

Kinship with the Parent Company in US

In past, MetLife Bangladesh used to send the lion shares of its profit to the US headquarter. In
2016, it was stated by the IRDA sources that MetLife had been doing business in Bangladesh
without any investment. Being registered in the US, MetLife was mainly working as a branch in
Bangladesh. Thus, this company didn’t invest in the Bangladeshi economy, rather used
Bangladeshi resources to expand their business. And they were sending their profits to US,
which did not contribute in the GDP of Bangladesh either.

So, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IRDA) had refused to permit MetLife
Bangladesh to send its profits to the US. MetLife earned a profit of almost Tk 114.71 crore (Taka
1.14 billion) in 2013. The company’s profit in 2014 was almost Tk 104.3 crore (Taka 1.04 billion).
IRDA asked MetLife to keep Tk 186.74 crore (Taka 1.86 billion) in Bangladesh from their profit
of two years that stood at almost Tk 218.74 crore (Taka 2.18 billion). The company was granted
with the permission to repatriate the remaining Tk 33 crore (Taka 330 million) to the US.

According to article 43 of the Insurance Act-2010, an insurance company has to follow the
solvency margin rule. Solvency margin is the financial capacity of the insurance company
through which it can make the payment of customer claims. By repatriating profit, the activities
of MetLife Bangladesh conflicted with this law. As a result, IRDA imposed the forbiddance on
MetLife Bangladesh to comply with the law and to protect the interest of the policyholders.
Though it happened in the past, MetLife Inc., registered in the US, is still the parent
organization of MetLife Bangladesh. This is not entirely impossible that this foreign life
insurance company might function in the support of its parent company in times of crisis, and
thus, leaving Bangladesh economically vulnerable. However, the chances are ignorable.

Image Crisis of the Insurance Industry

Image crisis is a major problem in insurance sector. There is a lack of trust between insurance
companies and their customers, because the insurers often engage in highly speculative
investments. Claim-settlement related problems also undermine the customer-insurer

23
relationship, and the process of settling claims can be arduous and long. This causes customers
to lose reliance over the insurance companies.
Profitable business depends on ethics as much as it does on efficiency, effectiveness and
financing. If a business cannot protect its customer’s interest, it loses trust of the market. There
are some dishonest people in insurance sector who are negating the benefits of getting
insurance. Policyholders are sometimes cheated by dishonest insurance officials, who are
polluting the goodwill of the industry. It happens from the branch manager to the agent in the
field. When they get a huge amount of money from a client, they hide with the money. Thus,
the problem arises. Those cheated customers start maintaining distance from insurance service,
and suggest other people to do so. Thus, insurance sector loses a huge portion of potential
customers and faces problems in seizing markets. This affects every insurance company
operating in this country, and MetLife Bangladesh is one of them.

Communication Gap

It has been found from the reviews of the policyholders of MetLife Bangladesh that this
company is not really responsive to customer’s calls and applications for making payment of
the claim. Some policyholders have complained that MetLife purposively procrastinate to
receive calls and give replies whenever it is time to pay the claimed money. Customers do not
hear from them for a long time unless they keep poking the authority of the company to take
necessary steps. Sometimes the insurer keeps the claim applications of the customers pending
forever. They keep postponing the date of payment. Customers cannot expect this kind of
unprofessional behaviour from such a reputed insurance giant. This is causing great harm to the
image of this company.

MetLife took on responsibility for the pensions from their employers to pay to the retirees,
which is known as pension risk-transfer or pension de-risking. The term “pension-risk transfer”
means that, the risk to the employer’s bottom line in being able to earn enough money to pay
retirees gets transferred to an insurance company. When this happens, pension benefits are no
longer governed under employer company, and retirees become subject to non-uniform state
law. In 2018, MetLife admitted its internal failures resulting in not being able to make payments
to tens of thousands of pensioner. Thanks to their procrastination, they lost contact with those
pensioners and did not even know where they lived. Those retirees believed in this company
and did not see this disaster coming. As a result, they also could not take any step to reestablish
the contact and recover their money. It was a heartbreaking consequence of MetLife’s
communication gap with its clients.

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Lack of Awareness

One of the major challenges for the insurance industry in Bangladesh is the lack of awareness
among mass people about insurance process, policies and facilities. Most people in Bangladesh
do not have any sort of insurance coverage, and many are reluctant to get involved in this
sector. A recent survey shows there are only 4 out of 1,000 people with insurance policies in
our country. They rather go for fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) or deposit premium schemes
(DPSs). Many even think of insurance as unnecessary and bothersome. Besides, most branches
of insurance companies are operating in urban areas. So, people living in rural areas are
deprived of this service. And the poor have automatically been kept in dark about insurance.
This lack of awareness and reluctance of people causes low insurance penetration here.
According to the data of 2018, the contribution of life insurance to the GDP of Bangladesh is
only about 0.57%. This percentage is disturbingly low comparing to the other countries in Asia.

Figure 2 Percentage of Insurance Penetration in Asian Countries

MetLife is also facing trouble like the other life insurance companies in dealing with people’s
unawareness. Otherwise this company could have sold a great number of policies more than it
is selling now. Furthermore, Complexities in regulations and vague understanding about the
policies by customers causes unsettled claims, which is harmful for both the customer’s
financial status and the company’s reputation.

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3.3 Prospects of Insurance Business in perspective of MetLife
Bangladesh

The insurance sector is gradually growing in Bangladesh. While the number of people who
availed insurance is very low, life insurance is gaining popularity as time is going by. With the
increase in per capita income of Bangladeshi people, the awareness and interest are vivid
towards insurance products among the middle class and upper-middle class people. Given this
fact MetLife has endless possibilities in the upcoming years.

MetLife Bangladesh is the largest life insurer in the country (and) has been the market leader
since 1997. It now serves over one million customers and is a major employer in the country
with over 16,000 employees.

MetLife offers financial protection to the people of Bangladesh through a mix of traditional and
innovative products such as individual and group life insurance policies, pension schemes,
children’s education policy; Shariah based savings schemes and accident and health products.
The products are designed to suit people of different age groups, professions and income
range. MetLife Bangladesh has focused on the trending problems of Bangladesh. For example-

Unemployment problem of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s tremendous economic growth has been unable to create jobs proportionately
over the past decade, raising questions about the significance of the growth for a large section
of the population. Employment elasticity, which indicates the ability of an economy to generate
employment opportunities for its population as percent of its growth process, declined
between fiscal 2005-06 and 2017-18, when the economy was apparently on tremendous
growth momentum. Employment elasticity, which indicates the ability of an economy to
generate employment opportunities for its population as percent of its growth process,
declined between fiscal 2005-06 and 2017-18, when the economy was apparently on
tremendous growth momentum. The growth potential that MetLife is promising and it can
tackle the country’s graduate unemployment problem. A report published by the Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by the British Council shows that about 47% of the
country’s graduates are unemployment while this percentage is much lower in India and
Pakistan.

An unemployed graduate can build his career in insurance sector as a financial associate. At
MetLife, there are untold possibilities for an incumbent to grow career. Having one of the
strongest sales-based business networks in the country, MetLife Bangladesh’s business
operations are largely dependent on its agencies, which have a three-tier structure. One can
26
start as a Financial Associate, learning and growing one’s way up to become a Unit Manager.
The final step is to own an agency office by one’s name, after being a Branch Manager.

The career of a financial associate is a noble one. Here, the relationship between an insurance
professional and a client goes beyond just selling and buying insurance policy. While you
prospect and nurture your relationship with your potential and existing client, you get the
opportunity to stand beside them in time of their crisis. Career in MetLife also has fast growth
potential and opportunity to get trainings and travel opportunity around the world. Apart from
these, a MetLife financial associate gets the flexibility to choose his/her work hours and
location of work as well.

To hire talented professionals and make the field force even robust, MetLife Bangladesh has
developed MetLife Associate Recruitment Solution (MARS), a digital platform through which a
potential financial associate can sign up, take necessary trainings and exams, choose his
preferred work-location and manager, and submit necessary documents required for joining
MetLife. This solution was developed keeping the tech-savvy young workforce in mind. One can
have a head-start with his/her career through MARS and reach the ultimate success destiny.

Diversification and Digitalization

Changes in regulation, consumer demands and expectations and the economy, are further
provoked by the adaptation of a digital ecosystem. Insurance companies globally are facing a
choice to either adapt or become agile with the changes and flows of the industry, or hold on to
outdated conceptions of brand strength, product complexity, and capital access to stay rigid
and risk obsolescence. Bangladeshi customers are also demanding digitalization. Bangladeshi
customers would like to get digitalization facilities, so MetLife wants to fulfill that need. There is
no alternative to digitalization in the modern world. MetLife’s future plan is to develop the
industry.

Any profit-oriented company will always look for effective ways to sell its products and services,
and such was MetLife in Bangladesh until 2014.But in early 2015, the insurer realigned its
business approach, catering to the needs of its clients. They are giving prominence to their
distribution channel and their priority was on sales.

As part of the reorganization, a strong marketing unit was introduced whose objective is
branding, product development through research and data analysis and communication.

27
Awareness programs about life insurance

The lack of awareness and understanding about life insurance among people is a big challenge
for insurance sector, which contributes only 0.5 percent to the country's gross domestic
product. Bangladesh’s insurance sector has progressed much in the last three decades. The
number of life insurance companies rose to 31 from seven, while a new insurance law of 2010
replaced the old Insurance Act 1938. An independent authority has also been set up.

MetLife too has also grown in that time. Some 30 years ago, there were only 50 regular staff
and 350 field agents. Now, it has 350 regular employees and about 15,000 field agents. Its
business was focused on Dhaka and Chittagong; now it has a presence in almost every district.
It has nine sales offices, 11 customer touch points and 208 agencies in Bangladesh.

With about 28 percent market share, MetLife is the leading insurance company in Bangladesh.
The growth could have been higher, but the industry could not grow as expected due to a lack
of awareness. People in Bangladesh are aware of the importance of life insurance but do not
have adequate knowledge on it. Life insurance is a must if a person's family depends on his or
her income, because the financial instrument replaces the person's income in case of any
accident, including life casualty. In developed countries, insurance is an integral part of an
individual's life, whether it is in house construction, car purchase, health or education, he said.
Even in neighboring India, the insurance to GDP ratio is 3 percent. Previously, as institutions,
they have also failed to provide the support necessary to raise public awareness. But now the
situation is improving. Adding to that citing the country's first ever insurance fair took that took
place this year as a case in point. Thus MetLife Bangladesh is creating awareness among the
people which is contributing in the growth of insurance sector of Bangladesh. So we can
forecast that in future this awareness will help them to double their market share.

Economic Development

Apart from providing insurance coverage to individuals or groups, insurance companies also
contribute to economic development by investing in government securities, especially bonds.
Of its total investment of Tk 8,885 crore as of December 2015, 81.62 percent was in the
government sector.

MetLife is also engaged in different activities as part of its corporate social responsibility. It has
partnerships with five nongovernmental organizations –

 Habitat for Humanity,

 Concern Worldwide,

28
  Swiss Contact,
 Sajida Foundation and
 Asian University for Women.

It also works with the Dhaka University's mathematics and banking and insurance departments
to support actuarial education.

Introduction of Proper Agency System Reduces the Risk of Corruption

The Insurance Act 2010 introduces the agency system in an effective frame. Previously, there
were agents and brokers existing in the operation of the insurance business, but there were no
mentionable proper & informative records of them. Therefore, there was a chance to commit
corruption. For example: the staffs of the insurance business were regular employee of the
company who has a certain pay scale. On the other hand, the agents work and get sales
commission which is not fixed. In this situation, many corrupted employees particularly of the
marketing department used to show their sales in the account of the agents’ sales and got a
certain percentage of invalid commission from the commission of the agents. Thus they used to
earned invalid commission which resulted unexpected financial loss for the double payment (as
the employees were paid their salary and at the same time the invalid commission, and also the
agents were paid their commission on the sales made by the employees) However, this is really
good news that the new Insurance Act 2010 has reduced the chance of such corruption in the
insurance industry including the MetLife Bangladesh by introducing the proper Agency System.

Microinsurance

From a policy standpoint, microinsurance is a strong development tool for countries looking to
encourage inclusive economic growth and socio-economic development. Since regulators have,
as part of their mandate, been making insurance available to low-income populations, the
presence or use of insurance for different target groups in a country should be a major policy
objective. Natural disasters have been increasing in severity and frequency in recent years, with
developing countries hit the hardest. A robust disaster risk management framework that
strongly features microinsurance can help protect vulnerable people by ensuring money is
available after a disaster, which they can then use to finance their recovery, repairing homes
and restarting livelihoods. With higher insurance penetration among poorer populations, fewer
people would be pushed into a cycle of poverty and thus would be more likely to be able to
continue contributing to the national economy, despite the shock event. MetLife has been
providing their microinsurance service in India. In future if they avail this service in Bangladesh
they will be able to satisfy their customer’s need that will boost their growth In Bangladesh.
29
Even though MetLife Bangladesh doesn’t have any plan to do micro insurance in near future, it
can be a great prospective area for the company in our country. Most of the people of our
country are unable to have costly and long term insurance policies specially the rural people.
Micro insurance can be provided to those individual personnel or to small business owners
against little insurance premiums and with easy terms and conditions. When they will afford to
minimize their risks at a lower price, they will take this opportunity and they will become to get
used to it. This can cover a huge portion of the society who can be a prospective target market
for this business.

Spreading Business in Rural Areas

MetLife Bangladesh has 19 branches throughout Bangladesh, over almost districts. Under the
new Insurance Act 2010, every insurance company should have a certain percentage (not yet
fixed) of its business in the rural areas for the rural insurers. The authority of MetLife
Bangladesh thinks that they won’t have any problem regarding this rule; rather they had
planned to spread their business in more rural areas already.

Bancassurance

Bancassurance is the simplest way of distribution of insurance products through a bank

distribution channel. It is basically selling insurance products and services by leveraging the vast
customer base of a bank and fulfil the banking and insurance needs of the customers at the
same time. Bancassurance is the collaboration between banks and insurers to distribute
insurance products to bank customers. To put it simply, Bancassurance, tries to exploit
synergies between both the insurers and banks. Experts are hopeful regarding this new process
as it is a good way to deal with the infrastructure problem, and to penetrate a whole new
market. Bancassurance can be a great opportunity for MetLife Bangladesh to thrive more and
reach to the mass public of this country. It has already taken some initiatives. MetLife
Bangladesh is providing several services under bancassurance, which are-

1. Insurance for Credit Cards:

 Customized insurance solutions for all types of credit cards.

 Enrollment age is 18-60 years.
 Coverage can be extended up to the age of 65.
 Payout of 100% of the outstanding amount in the event of death or permanent total
disability.
 Offers attractive accident and health insurance protection.

30
 2. Insurance for Deposit Products:

 Covers lifestyle benefit solutions for deposit products.

 Customers are able to customize the insurance package, including a combination of
benefits to suit their needs and budget.
 Offers a high coverage range.
 Product can be issued immediately without medical documentation.
 Affordable cost.

3. Insurance for Loans:

 Flexible insurance solutions for different types of loans, covering a wide range of loan
amounts.
 Medical tests at the most proficient hospitals and diagnostic centers in Bangladesh.
 The highest risk retained in Bangladesh by expert underwriters.
 High quality support for transaction processing and enquiries by our service teams.
 Offers in-depth accident insurance and health insurance protection.

These activities of MetLife Bangladesh can play a crucial role to expand its business and
popularity more than ever through overcoming the challenges it is facing at present.

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 Chapter - 04
4.1 Conclusion

At present, insurance is too much important to the business and individual sector. Most of the
companies provide more or less same services. As a first multinational Insurance company in
Bangladesh, MetLife has completed more than 20 successful years in this country. Its efficient
management team has made its proper progress in every step throughout these decades.
MetLife businesses are highly complementary. If they can implement proper methods to
function more effectively, and if the law is amended to be in favor of foreign insurance
business, MetLife Bangladesh will outgrow itself in becoming the giant company of insurance
industry, and in contributing greatly to the economic development of Bangladesh.

4.2 Recommendations

It has to be noted by both the insurance regulatory authorities and the insurance business
authorities concerned about the poor state of the entire insurance sector in Bangladesh, which
state is to be abolished following the enactment of the Insurance Development and Regulatory
Authority Act 2010. While working on the report we have developed some recommendations
and suggestions both for the insurance authorities and for the insurance companies in
Bangladesh; specifying MetLife Bangladesh.

4.2.1 Recommendations to the Regulatory Authority:

After analyzing the findings of my report I would like to place the following recommendations
to the insurance authority of Bangladesh-

 The new Insurance Act 2010 introduced many essential features that were missing in
the previous Insurance Act of 1938 but the implementation process were too slow, the
independent Insurance Regulatory Body (IRA) is not yet fully functional. It was not yet
properly established and many of features are yet to be implemented. So, the Finance
Ministry should focus on the problems regarding it and should take pragmatic steps to
solve those problems as soon as possible, because this is already too late and we don’t
want to be more lagged behind.
 To bring a real change and in the Insurance Business Sector in Bangladesh, the
proposed changes brought by the Insurance Act 2010 should be implemented prudently

32
 and as soon as possible. In this purpose, the concerned authorities need to be stronger
and more active as well as accountable enough.
 All the insurance companies in the insurance industry need to be responsive equally
and very actively. So, the concerned insurance authority should focus on spreading
necessary awareness among the insurance companies as well. To make it possible,
regular seminars, meetings with the business authorities and proper auditing may be
conducted.
 The percentage of management expenses should be at least double to cope up with the
current price hike. In order to ensure maintaining proper expenditure accounts by the
insurance companies, the regulatory authority should take this issue into consideration
with due importance.
 The total power that has been given to the regulatory authority to deal with the
different opinions over insurance claims should be reconsidered.
 Transparency and accountability should be ensured in each and every step to ensure
the full implementation of the new Insurance Act 2010 in the insurance sector in
Bangladesh. For this, every single person associated with the implementation have to
be honest and conscious. In this regard, everyone should come forward to make the
associated procedure smoother.
 As one of the basic requirements for the insurance industry to have sustained growth is
to enhance training facilities, Bangladesh Insurance Academy is providing training
facilities and professional education to those engaged in insurance business in the
country. The syllabus, curriculum and training programs of the academy (BIA) should be
modified and updated to meet the modern needs of the insurance industry and to
ensure the proper implementation of the Insurance Act 2010.
 To establish the act reliable to the stakeholders and to make its implementation
process bendy, the regulatory authority should keep the Insurance Act 2010 as flexible
as possible, so that any essential amendment can be made and imposed in order to
adjust with the rapid growing and changing situation when necessary.

4.2.2 Recommendations to MetLife Bangladesh:

When there is an emergence to cope up with the time, obviously something needs to be
changed. With the changes and additions brought by the Insurance Act 2010, there a lot more
changes and modifications have to be brought in the individual insurance companies. So, even
it is true that there are some problems created due to the implementation of the new act at
MetLife Bangladesh, the company should focus more on the prospects and the pragmatic

33
solutions of the problems. Therefore, I also have come out with some recommendations to the
company which is as follows:

 MetLife should provide extensive training to its employees especially to the business
development & marketing executives in order to make them able to cope up with the
changes brought by the Insurance Act 2010. Through proper training to the employees
and agents the company should practice and ensure marketing through the use of
promotional tools such as advertising, sales promotion, public relation and publicity,
personal selling and direct marketing.
 The company should raise awareness among all the employees and staffs about the
implementation of the new law to make the implementation process much smoother.
In order to do so, regular weekly/monthly meetings and seminars can be arranged after
the office hours.
 As one of the most important tasks, client awareness needs to be increased in the
insurance sector in Bangladesh. In this purpose, MetLife should take the necessary
steps through its large sales and business development force to ensure a level of
awareness among their clients throughout the country.
 Even though it is quite difficult, the company should try its best to reduce the
management expenses as well as commission expenses to cope up with the rules
regarding these issues under the new Insurance Act 2010. In this regard, each & every
employee should work as cost saver. At the end it will certainly be beneficial for them.
 The company should consider the rules and regulations for the non-life insurance
companies in Bangladesh under the Insurance Act 2010 before and during setting any
future plan regarding operation and expansion of its business, so that there doesn’t
arise any conflicting situation. It will make their way of business operations much
smoother as well as easier and less problematic.
 Transparency and accountability should be ensured in each and every step in the
implementation of the new Insurance Act 2010 in the entire departments of MICL. To
ensure a transparent environment in the company, the employees along with the
management and authorities should come forward with their best flexibility.
 The company should plan to take the opportunity of micro insurance business and
Islamic Insurance business as their service diversification tool by providing responsive
services and establish efficient departments to perform such task. This will allow them
to expand their business among a large number of populations of Bangladesh, which
will also help them to distinguish themselves from their competitors. For business
expansion, MetLife can introduce Islamic Insurance where they can capture a large
portion of the population since the majority people of the country are Muslim.

34
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