Steven A. Kandarian was the president, chairman, and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produ ...

. He became president and CEO on May 1, 2011, and chairman in January 2012 succeeding Robert Henrikson, who retired from those roles. Kandarian retired from MetLife on April 30, 2019 and was succeeded as president and CEO by Michel Khalaf and as chairman by Glenn Hubbard.

Life and career

Kandarian grew up in

West Hartford West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquiall ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, the son of Lillian and Albert Kandarian. He graduated from

William H. Hall High School William H. Hall High School, also known as Hall High, is a four-year public high school located in West Hartford, Connecticut, West Hartford, in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Opened in 1924, it was named after William Hutchins Hall, who was a te ...

and held several roles in private equity, including as founder and managing partner of Orion Partners, LP and executive director of the

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a United States federally chartered corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private defined ...

. He is a board member of the

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (Damon Runyon) is an American not-for-profit cancer research organization focused on "discovering the talent to discover the cure". The organization states that its goals are to: "identify the best an ...

and a member of the Financial Services Forum and the

Economic Club of New York The Economic Club of New York is a U.S. nonprofit and non-partisan membership organization dedicated to promoting the study and discussion of social, economic and political questions. History Founded in 1907, the Economic Club of New York is ...

. He received a B.A. from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

, a J.D. from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

, and an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

MetLife

Prior to becoming CEO, Kandarian was MetLife's chief investment officer since April 2005. As CIO, Kandarian oversaw a number of initiatives that strengthened MetLife's investment portfolio, enhanced the company's focus on effective risk management and contributed to the bottom line

He is credited with preparing MetLife's portfolio prior to the 2007 recession, partly by anticipating the housing bubble and selling Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan in 2006. In his first three months as CEO, Kandarian expanded the company's senior leadership team with the hiring of Frans Hijkoop to head human resources and Martin Lippert to oversee global technology. He also announced MetLife's 25-year agreement to acquire the naming rights to the home of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, which is now known as

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. It opened in 2010, replacing Giants Stadium, and serves as the home for the ...

. In addition, Kandarian has also moved the company away from retail banking. On July 21, 2011, MetLife said the company would seek to sell its deposit banking business. In announcing the move, Kandarian said it "was not appropriate for the overwhelming majority of our business to be governed by regulations written for banking institutions

Three months later, MetLife said it would look to sell its residential mortgage lending business as well, saying the marketplace and regulatory environment for the business was uncertain and that the company needed to focus its resources on its global insurance and employee benefits businesses.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Kandarian is a former executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

an agency of the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

. Kandarian was appointed to head the PBGC on December 2, 2001, by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, announcing his departure on January 7, 2004. to return to his family in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He left on February 13, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandarian, Steven Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Clark University alumni Georgetown University alumni Harvard Business School alumni American businesspeople in insurance American people of Armenian descent Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation MetLife people American chief executives of financial services companies American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies Chief investment officers Hall High School (Connecticut) alumni Directors of ExxonMobil