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In order to win the goodwill of its Chinese partner, the JV's new name became United MetLife Insurance Co, or Liantai Daduhui in Chinese, implying the involvement of both shareholders.

Customer satisfaction

Seeing as how a name is so important to the Chinese public, will the name change adversely affect United MetLife's business?

"There will be some influence, but the company shouldn't expect too much." a CitiInsurance manager, who asked to remain anonymous, was quoted by the Economic Observer as saying.

Starting on May 8, 2006, United MetLife sent clients a letter from chief executive officer (CEO) Bob Pei, a new brochure and a Snoopy soft toy informing them of the change and explaining the reasons behind it, a United MetLife employee in Shanghai confirmed via telephone.

The renaming ceremony, attended by MetLife Inc chairman Robert Henrikson, vice mayor of Shanghai Feng Guoqin and other important names, officially marked the move. Other promotion events will be held in the future to advertise United MetLife, the JV's business manager Song Xin said.

Vice mayor of Shanghai Feng Guoqin (R), MetLife Inc chairman Robert Henrikson pose for photographers during a celebration for the launch of MetLife's newly named joint-venture life insurance company in Shanghai on May 19, 2006. [chinadaily.com.cn]

The insurance industry in China is a burgeoning one. Currently less than four percent of China's 1.3 billion people take out insurance. Most of the policyholders are among the middle class who have higher salaries and prefer brand names when they spend money. The policies originally bought from CitiInsurance have now become United MetLife policies. Even if their actual rights have not technically been violated, they may still feel upset about the change, an analyst commented.

How to regain client confidence will remain an important question for United MetLife, the analyst said.

Employee attitudes

According to an insider in an interview conducted prior to the renaming event, some of United Metlife's over 200 staff is optimistic about the change. They are happy with MetLife's move and look forward to a substantial improvement in the Shanghai insurance market and possibly the rest of China's insurance market after the renaming event.

Some employees don't care. They think it doesn't make any difference to them whether they work for CitiInsurance or United MetLife. Others are not that optimistic. They feel that the company's future may be dicey and it makes them uneasy.

In a telephone interview conducted on Thursday, vice president Bao Hongjian explained that most employees were happy about the renaming event, becoming more confident in the company's future, especially after receiving positive feedback from customers.

Two competing JVs

The renaming finally gives the US insurance giant two JV life insurance companies in China. MetLife established a JV Sino-US MetLife with Beijing Capital Airport Group in 2004.

It still remains to be seen how MetLife will handle its two competing Chinese JVs.

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