Internet a better engine for insurer MetLife China

MetLife China is a top-ranked joint-venture insurer in the Chinese market. It was rated third among 28 companies last year. [Photo/China Daily]

"Unlike many new companies, we appear to be less progressive and more conservative in terms of our investment strategies," Tan said.

"It is because MetLife, as a company with nearly 150 years of history, has experienced many financial crises and seen many failed cases of big insurance companies," he said.

"In China, we are carefully balancing the short-term and long-term opportunities, and solvency is always one of our top priorities," he said.

Tan said that most of his company's assets are allocated to government bonds and high-quality enterprise bonds as it fulfills a strategy of providing good liquidity and satisfying investment returns.

Meanwhile, the company will publish its first China Employee Benefit Trends Study in both Beijing and Shanghai in October, offering their business customers better insight into their human resources strategies to address talent challenges and rising costs in China.

More than 90 of the top 100 Fortune 500 companies are customers of MetLife's employee benefit products, Tan said.

The report will combine the perspectives of both employers and employees. It will provide insight into the financial concerns, needs and expectations of employees. It also delves into the employer perceptions on benefits objectives and management practices, Tan said.

MetLife's Employee Benefit Trends Study, first launched in the US in 2001, expanded its research internationally in 2007. It has since released global editions focusing on employee benefit trends in mature and emerging markets, including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and the United Kingdom.