Metlife EuropeApr 4 2018

Firing Line: Dominic Grinstead

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Firing Line: Dominic Grinstead

The business could just not make it work for its pension products in the UK, so after several months of grappling with a challenging economic situation, the company decided to pull the plug.

Mr Grinstead, who has been in the hot seat for nine years, said the fact that long-term interest rates had remained historically low for some time, coupled with the realisation that rates were unlikely to move dramatically higher, prompted a rethink. He said: "They weren't delivering the financial returns that Metlife required and for that reason we decided to focus more of our efforts on the protection space."

"We have 50,000 wealth management customers and these customers have got good outcomes."

Metlife UK is making a big push in the direction of protection and as a consequence Mr Grinstead will be chairing the ABI's protection committee. While other trade body executives have likened managing representatives to "herding cats", Mr Grinstead is more diplomatic. 

He said: "Chairing a committee is very different to running a business, and what we have to do is focus increasingly on areas where we have common interests. There probably will be areas where we have differences, but I will focus on areas where we have agreement.

"It's a big industry. I can see ourselves working well with financial advisers, and the financial education bodies. All of these areas have an alignment."

So what will he be looking at when he takes over?

Mr Grinstead said: "I think there's a number of areas we can look at in terms of how do you make these products more widely available? What are the access points?

"We have to move away from product marketing and distribution, and more towards what customers really need. People now tend to be in work for much longer. There's a shift that people are dying less in their 40s and 50s, but there's a rise in chronic illnesses and there's a significant rise in mental illnesses.

"There's also a rise in terms of digital access to products more generally. How is the insurance industry beginning to adapt to that?"

The protection industry has long been struggling to work out how to make the take-up of protection products improve, and Mr Grinstead said the way to push it forward was as much an education exercise as anything else.

He said: "With income protection, there's a real focus on early intervention; the earlier people can return to work, the less likely a short-term illness will turn into a long-term illness. Individuals and companies who have access to income protection products are likely to return to the workforce more quickly than those that don't."

As with the rest of financial services, executives are exploring the role of digitisation, accessing products more quickly and getting claims more rapidly.

He said: "In terms of how things are developing in the insurance industry, when we look at a product development life cycle, similar to the financial advice industry, we have seen standards rise enormously over the last few years. There's a very strong focus on understanding customers now. They have to understand if their product is serving their customers.

"Without these products, these families would be vulnerable. When you look at the life insurance industry, this is where it started."

Despite Metlife's recent reputation of being an aggressive upstart in the pension market, Mr Grinstead said that the company had been in the UK for 90 years.

He said: "We are one of the largest providers of group life and we issue around 250,000 policies on the individual protection side; our protection business has been doing very well and we're now redoubling our effort in that direction. We are very much focused on the protection market around the world and in the UK we've been growing that business, and we have some plans to develop that further."

Mr Grinstead joined the company as marketing director, before being promoted to managing director a year later. He has no immediate plans to move: "I'm enjoying what I'm doing – it's been a fascinating time to be involved in the industry."

As for the industry's future, despite Metlife's recent experience, he said: "Annuities will still have a place. If interest rates improve then returns on annuities will improve, but the clear direction of travel will be focused on investments and platforms, and I can see greater opportunities there."

Melanie Tringham is features editor of Financial Adviser

 

Dominic Grinstead's career highlights

2009 to present, managing director, Metlife UK

2008 - 2009 Strategic development and marketing director, Metlife UK

1992 - 2005 Head of national sales, Clerical Medical