METLIFE BOLSTERS UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE LINEUP

METLIFE BOLSTERS UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE LINEUP

NEW YORK, May 12, 2008

MetLife today announced the launch of a new universal life insurance policy, Guarantee Advantage UL (2001 CSO), in all 50 states, through the company’s sales force and independent distribution channels. The new product offers enhanced flexibility with guaranteed protection through customizable durations of coverage and premium payments (including the ability to carry over a loan on 1035 exchanges), as well as design innovations that allow policyholders to create a policy that best meets their needs.

The new Guarantee Advantage UL is a permanent life insurance policy that offers individuals an attractive tool particularly for estate and business planning, as well as income replacement to protect families from the loss of a breadwinner. The policy’s optional Coverage Continuation Rider (CCR) features a secondary no-lapse guarantee that coverage will remain in force, even if the cash value has been reduced to zero. This enhanced offering gives clients guaranteed life protection for as long as they need with a premium payment schedule that is guaranteed not to change as long as payments are received on time and there are no changes made to the policy.

"The new Guaranteed Advantage UL provides a unique, competitively priced, solution that can be tailored to meet our individual customers’ needs," says Gene L. Lunman, senior vice president and head of MetLife’s Individual Business Product Management Group. "The policy’s customizable length of guarantee and payment patterns, up to age 121, work with our market-leading grace periods and state-of-the-art riders to offer policyholders the options they desire to design the best coverage possible for their family."

The new product is built using the 2001 Commissioners’ Standard Ordinary (CSO) Mortality Table, which extends to age 121. This allows clients to reduce their annual premiums by extending payments until up to age 121. Clients can design a premium schedule to best meet their needs. In addition, both the Cash Value Accumulation Test (CVAT) and the Guideline Premium Test (GPT) are available with the new Guarantee Advantage UL.

The product also features innovative grace periods which help protect clients against the risk of losing the CCR’s secondary guarantee:

• The First Year Guarantee Grace Period benefits those policyholders with lump sum and 1035 contributions by limiting the impact of the first year’s premium payment on the duration or cost of the CCR’s secondary guarantee. With this grace period, there is no penalty affecting the secondary guarantee during the first year if payments are received after their due date.
• The 30-day Renewal Guarantee Grace Period protects clients after the first year by allowing the CCR’s secondary guarantee to remain in place if premium payments are received within 30 days of their due date.
• The Nine Month Secondary Guarantee Reactivation offers additional security by allowing individuals to restore the CCR’s guarantee for up to nine months after it is lost, even if the policy has lapsed.

The policy also features an optional, patent pending Guaranteed Survivor Income Benefit (GSIB) rider. The GSIB pays death proceeds in the form of an enhanced monthly income rather than a lump sum payment, providing beneficiaries with a guaranteed monthly income they’ll never outlive. With the launch of the new Guarantee Advantage UL, the maximum death benefit available through the enhanced payout option has been increased from $2 million to $5 million (may not be available in all states).