MetLife will boost its staff of financial planners and other financial
service representatives by 780, or nearly 10%, within the next three
years to serve the African American community.
The increase in
staff is being driven by the dramatic increase in the number of baby
boomers accumulating their own wealth or who are about to inherit
estates from their parents. Within that population boom are a growing
number of African Americans who need
financial services, and New York-based MetLife will target those
potential customers, says executive vice president Michael J. Vietri.
The new financial services representatives will be spread across the
United States but concentrated in those markets where demographic
studies show a growing minority population.
"There is a huge
swell of baby boomers who need trusted financial advice," says Vietri.
"If you look at the demographic changes of the last 50 years, or even
the last 20 years, there is an increase in multiculturalism -of African
Americans, women, Asians, Hispanics, and South Asians who need trusted
advice. At the same time, our competition has been dwindling, which
creates a vast opportunity."
MetLife will hire
people from all backgrounds, and will place many in metropolitan areas
where the need is greatest, Vietri says. The hiring effort will be
coupled with an increase in office infrastructure to support the new
financial representatives.