COVID-19 Global Response and Racial Equity

To date, MetLife and MetLife Foundation have contributed over $250 million of relief to help people cope with COVID-19, between premium credits and direct contributions. MetLife Foundation has contributed over $27 million to COVID-19 relief and recovery, including direct cash assistance in the form of help with rent or bills, debt or savings, and food or basic needs, as well as financial coaching and counseling.

COVID-19 Action Agenda

MetLife was one of the first companies to endorse the COVID-19 Action Agenda, a campaign to combat stigma, bias, and discrimination against Asian-Americans. The agenda was subsequently endorsed by 100 companies. It is led by ASCEND, the largest Pan-Asian nonprofit organization for business professionals in North America and addresses the adverse impacts of COVID-19 by following a 5-Point Action Agenda:

1. Promote inclusion in the workplace and society; 
2. Raise awareness of the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups;
3. Denounce bias against Pan-Asians and other diverse communities;
4. Support communities to aid frontline workers, COVID-19 victims, and their families; and
5. Give donations to help vulnerable communities and businesses negatively affected by the pandemic.  

MetLife and MetLife Foundation COVID-19 Impact Data

In the first year of the pandemic, provided more than a quarter of a billion total dollars of relief to help people around the world cope with the impacts of COVID-19—through premium credits and contributions from MetLife and MetLife Foundation, including direct cash assistance in the form of help with rent or bills, debt or savings, and food or basic needs, as well as financial coaching and counseling.

Over the course of 2021, COVID-19 claims totaled $2 billion globally.

Since 2020, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $27 million in grants to address COVID-19 related issues globally.²  

MetLife Foundation’s $5 million pledge supplemented the $100 million in impact investments made by MetLife Investment Management to support diverse communities and small businesses.

Fostering Racial Equity and Inclusion

MetLife’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goes well beyond our organization. We seek to foster racial equity across all our communities and, in doing so, close the equity and wealth gap by building financial confidence and resiliency among marginalized groups.

In June 2020, MetLife Foundation launched a three-year, $5 million commitment to advance racial equity in the United States. As of 2022, MetLife Foundation completed this commitment. The Foundation used the funds to promote Black educational and career opportunities, Black business ownership, and racial-justice initiatives, including a $1 million commitment to the United Negro College Fund to help finance scholarships at historically black colleges and universities.

MetLife Foundation’s $5 million pledge supplements the $282 million in impact investments under management by MetLife Investment Management (MIM) to support diverse communities and small businesses.

^{"Impact investments" are investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return (GIIN–Global Impact Investment Network–definition). This activity includes MetLife’s general account and a smaller volume of MetLife foundation assets.}