Change in Standings

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Chairman Gilbert W. Fitzhugh last week felt a little like a Hertz executive who had been told that Avis had finally overtaken him. The mighty Met, long the second biggest U.S. company after A.T. & T. in terms of assets, and No. 1 in the insurance field for nearly half a century, lost honors to rival Prudential Insurance Co. of America. By the margin of $83,020,000, the Pru outdid its competitor, ended the year with assets of $23,594,698,000 v. $23,511,678,000 for the Met. Part of the gain was due to the fact that Prudential got a better return on investments.

Prudential President Orville E. Beal beamed over the coup, while Metropolitan's Fitzhugh was understandably rueful. "We wish we had stayed in first place," he said. "When you've been first at anything for a number of years, you don't like to be second." Fitzhugh's company is at least still first in another important measure of the industry. It has $130 billion worth of insurance in force, more than Prudential's $121.7 billion and double the total for third place Equitable Life Assurance.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.