MetLife Auto & Home Eyes California for Expansion

Snoopy is moving to California and is bringing with him opportunities for independent insurance agents. MetLife Inc., which uses the famous beagle in its advertising, said it plans to expand its MetLife Auto & Home products in California. As part of its entrance into the Golden State with auto and home insurance products sold by agents, the company appointed Rodrigo Sebastiani regional sales manager to oversee growth plans in the San Diego market; Daniel Slaten regional sales manager for the Inland Empire territory, including Riverside, San Bernardino and parts of Orange County; and John Sibthorp, regional sales manager for a wide geography of California, including Bakersfield, Ventura and East Los Angeles County. More regional sales manager appointments are expected.

Paul Gavin, vice president of State Management for MetLife Auto & Home, said the company has been considering entering the California market for some time.

“To be a large national carrier, we need to get countrywide market share over time,” Gavin said. He noted Californians are already familiar with the company’s Group Insurance product offerings, including worksite-marketed auto and home products, as well as financial services and life insurance products. So selling auto and home insurance products through agents was a natural extension.

“Our company is ranked 25th in the state in terms of insurance company market share,” Gavin said. “Longer term, we’d like that figure to reflect our market share nationwide, which is 1.4 percent.”

Primarily, independent insurance agents will sell the auto and home products, said Joe Rupp, vice president of western region agency distribution. To complement their sales, MetLife’s financial services representatives who are property/casualty licensed agents also will have access to sell the auto and home products.

“California supports a deep and broad-based independent agency force,” Rupp said, noting agents and financial services representatives will not be in sales competition with each other.

“Customers choose to purchase in different ways,” Gavin added. The company distributes one-third of its products through the independent agency channel, one-third through the group channel, and one-third through direct sales. “Over time, we’ve matured this distribution strategy and we’ve been successful with multiple channels,” he said.

Rupp said MetLife Auto & Home is hiring regional sales managers, who then will look for insurance industry veterans with extensive contacts to appoint as agents. MetLife’s group business has grown in major metropolitan areas, he said, and the company would like to complement that in other areas of the state, where it can bring in new customers.

Appointed agents will have access to the company’s suite of marketing opportunities that can be customized at the territory level, Rupp added.