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ZENITH ACCUMULATOR
Individual Variable Annuity Contracts
Issued by
New England Mutual Life Insurance Company
NEW ENGLAND VARIABLE ACCOUNT
Supplement dated November 17, 1995
to Prospectus dated May 1, 1995
New England Mutual Life Insurance Company ("The New England") and
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") have entered into an agreement
to merge, with MetLife to be the survivor of the merger. The merger is
conditioned upon, among other things, approval by the policyholders of The New
England and MetLife and receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The merger is
not expected to occur until after December 31, 1995.
Upon consummation of the merger, the New England Variable Account (the
"Account") will become a separate account of MetLife. The Contracts issued by
the Account will thereafter be deemed to be variable annuity contracts issued
by MetLife, and the insurance obligations under the Contracts will be backed by
the assets of MetLife. It is possible, however, that in light of the merger,
the Contracts issued by the Account will be transferred to New England Variable
Life Insurance Company ("NEVLICO") pursuant to a separate arrangement. NEVLICO
is currently a subsidiary of The New England, but will become a subsidiary of
MetLife as a consequence of the merger. If the Contracts are transferred to
NEVLICO, they will thereafter be deemed to be variable annuity contracts issued
by NEVLICO, and the insurance obligations underlying the Contracts will be
backed by the assets of NEVLICO. In connection with any such transfer, Contract
Owners will receive more information about the transaction and how it affects
their Contracts. In either event, Contract Owners will receive more information
about the company assuming the insurance obligations under the Contracts.
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Under The New England's current rules, the minimum initial purchase payment
on flexible payment Contracts is $50 for Contracts issued in connection with
retirement plans, other than Individual Retirement Accounts ("IRAs"),
qualifying for tax benefited treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(the "Code"), $2,000 for Contracts issued in connection with IRAs and $5,000
for all other Contracts. The New England currently requires minimum purchase
payments of at least $50 per payment if they are made through a group billing
arrangement (also known as a "list bill" arrangement), and $100 per month if
they are withdrawn from your bank checking account or TNE Cash Management
Account (a service known as the Master Service Account arrangement).
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The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has repealed the state's 2% tax on annuity
payments received by insurance companies, effective January 1, 1996. This tax
currently applies only to annuities that do not qualify for tax benefited
treatment under the Code. Beginning on January 1, 1996, The New England will no
longer deduct a 2% premium tax from purchase payments it receives for Zenith
Accumulator Contracts that are subject to the insurance tax law of
Pennsylvania.
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NEW ENGLAND ZENITH FUND
Supplement dated November 17, 1995 to
Prospectus dated May 1, 1995
BACK BAY ADVISORS MONEY MARKET SERIES WESTPEAK STOCK INDEX SERIES
BACK BAY ADVISORS BOND INCOME SERIES DRAYCOTT INTERNATIONAL EQUITY
SERIES
BACK BAY ADVISORS MANAGED SERIES ALGER EQUITY GROWTH SERIES
LOOMIS SAYLES AVANTI GROWTH SERIES VENTURE VALUE SERIES
LOOMIS SAYLES SMALL CAP SERIES SALOMON BROTHERS U.S. GOVERNMENT
LOOMIS SAYLES BALANCED SERIES SERIES
WESTPEAK VALUE GROWTH SERIES SALOMON BROTHERS STRATEGIC BOND
CAPITAL GROWTH SERIES OPPORTUNITIES SERIES
New England Mutual Life Insurance Company ("The New England") and
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") have entered into an agreement
to merge, with MetLife to be the survivor of the merger. The merger is
conditioned upon, among other things, approval by the policyholders of The New
England and MetLife and receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The merger is
not expected to occur until after December 31, 1995.
TNE Advisers, Inc. ("TNE Advisers"), investment adviser to each Series of New
England Zenith Fund (the "Fund") except the Capital Growth Series, is a wholly-
owned subsidiary of The New England. The New England owns the sole general
partner of New England Investment Companies, L.P. ("NEIC") and a majority of
the limited partnership interest in NEIC. NEIC is the owner of a majority
limited partnership interest in the Capital Growth Series' investment adviser,
Capital Growth Management Limited Partnership. Also, the subadvisers of nine
Series of the Fund are currently wholly-owned subsidiaries of NEIC. These
subadvisers are Back Bay Advisors, L.P., Loomis Sayles & Company, L.P.,
Westpeak Investment Advisors, L.P. and Draycott Partners, Ltd. The subadvisers
of the remaining four Series of the Fund are not affiliated with The New
England or NEIC.
The merger of The New England into MetLife is being treated, for purposes of
the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "Act"), as an "assignment" of the
existing advisory agreements for each Series and of the subadvisory agreements
of the nine Series that have NEIC subsidiaries as subadvisers. Under the Act,
such an "assignment" will result in an automatic termination of these
agreements. The subadvisory agreements for the other four Series terminate
automatically, by their terms, upon any termination of TNE Advisers' advisory
agreement with the Fund. Thus, those subadvisory agreements will also terminate
at the time of the merger.
Prior to the merger, shareholders of the Series will be asked to approve new
investment advisory and subadvisory agreements, intended to take effect at the
time of the merger. The new agreements are expected to be substantially
identical to the existing agreements. Prior to the shareholder vote regarding
the new agreements, a proxy statement describing them in more detail will be
sent to those Contract Owners who are entitled to give instructions as to how
shares of the Series should be voted.
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DRAYCOTT INTERNATIONAL EQUITY SERIES
Draycott Partners, Ltd. ("Draycott") serves as subadviser to the Draycott
International Equity Series (the "Series"). Draycott's parent, NEIC, has agreed
to sell Draycott to Cursitor Holdings Ltd. U.K. ("Cursitor"). The sale is
expected to occur in late December, 1995. Under the Act, the sale will
constitute a change in control of Draycott, which will terminate the current
subadvisory agreement between Draycott and TNE Advisers. Cursitor,
headquartered at 66 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AU, England, is an investment
advisory holding company that had approximately $9.4 billion under management
at September 30, 1995.
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Subsequent to the acquisition of Draycott by Cursitor, Cursitor itself is
expected to be acquired by Alliance Capital Management, L.P. ("Alliance"). This
transaction would result in Draycott becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of a
new entity, Cursitor Alliance LLC, in which Alliance would own a 93% interest.
Alliance Capital Management Corporation, the sole general partner of, and the
owner of a 1% general partnership interest in, Alliance, is an indirect wholly-
owned subsidiary of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States,
which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Equitable Companies Incorporated, a
holding company controlled by AXA, a French insurance holding company. If
consummated, the transaction would constitute a further change in control of
Draycott, which would again terminate the subadvisory agreement between
Draycott and TNE Advisers.
No changes in the Series' investment objective or policies, or in the
portfolio management personnel responsible for the Series' day-to-day
investment management, are contemplated in connection with either transaction.
Before either transaction is effected, shareholders of the Series will be asked
to approve new subadvisory agreements intended to take effect in the event the
transactions are consummated. The new subadvisory agreements are expected to be
identical in substance to the existing subadvisory agreement. Prior to the
shareholder vote regarding the new subadvisory agreements, a proxy statement
describing them in more detail will be sent to those Contract Owners who are
entitled to give instructions as to how shares of the Series should be voted.
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ALGER EQUITY GROWTH SERIES
The trustees of the Fund have approved a new investment advisory agreement
between the Fund and TNE Advisers and a new subadvisory agreement between TNE
Advisers and Fred Alger Management, Inc. ("Alger"), both relating to the Alger
Equity Growth Series (the "Series") of the Fund. The new advisory and
subadvisory agreements would increase the fee rates payable by the Series to
TNE Advisers and payable by TNE Advisers to Alger, effective May 1, 1996. The
annual rate of the fee payable by the Series to TNE Advisers under the new
advisory agreement would be 0.75% of the Series' average daily net assets, as
compared to the current fee rate of 0.70%. The annual rate of the fee payable
by TNE Advisers to Alger under the new subadvisory agreement would be 0.45% of
the first $100,000,000 of the Series' average daily net assets, 0.40% of the
next $400,000,000 of such assets and 0.35% of such assets in excess of
$500,000,000. A meeting of the Series' shareholders will be held for the
purpose of voting to approve or disapprove the new agreements. The new
agreements will not take effect unless they are approved by vote of the Series'
shareholders at the meeting. A proxy statement describing the new agreements in
more detail will be sent in advance of the meeting to those Contract Owners who
are entitled to give instructions as to how shares of the Series should be
voted at the meeting.
Effective January 1, 1996, TNE Advisers will modify the expense deferral
arrangement that currently applies to the Series by raising the expense limit
from 0.85% to 0.90% of the Series' net assets. Pursuant to the expense deferral
arrangement, TNE Advisers defers those operating expenses (other than brokerage
costs, interest, taxes and extraordinary expenses) in excess of the expense
limit until a subsequent year, if any, when total expenses are less than the
limit. (See "Expense Deferral Arrangement" under the section of the prospectus
entitled "Management.")
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LOOMIS SAYLES SMALL CAP SERIES
The following information reflects changes in the investment management and
policies of the Loomis Sayles Small Cap Series (the "Series"):
Jeffrey C. Petherick, Vice President of Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P.
("Loomis Sayles") and New England Zenith Fund, and Mary Champagne, Vice
President of Loomis Sayles, have day-to-day management responsibility for the
Series. Mr. Petherick has co-managed the Series since its inception. Mr.
Petherick was an investment manager at Masco Corporation prior to joining
Loomis Sayles in 1990. Ms. Champagne has
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co-managed the Series since July 1995. Prior to joining Loomis Sayles in 1993,
Ms. Champagne served as a portfolio manager at NBD Bank for 10 years.
Loomis Sayles manages the Series by investing primarily in stocks of small
cap companies with good earnings growth potential that Loomis Sayles believes
are undervalued by the market. Loomis Sayles seeks to build a core small cap
portfolio of solid growth companies' stock with a smaller emphasis on special
situations and turnarounds (companies that have experienced significant
business problems but which Loomis Sayles believes have favorable prospects for
recovery), as well as unrecognized stocks.
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VENTURE VALUE SERIES
Selected/Venture Advisers, L.P., sub-adviser to the Venture Value Series (the
"Series"), changed its name to Davis Selected Advisers, L.P. ("Davis Selected")
on October 1, 1995. Venture Advisers, Inc. is the sole general partner of Davis
Selected, which, in turn, is controlled by Shelby M.C. Davis.
Shelby M.C. Davis, a director of Venture Advisers, Inc. since 1968, was
primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Series from its
inception through September, 1995. Since October 1995, Mr. Davis and
Christopher C. Davis have co-managed the Series. Christopher C. Davis is a
Portfolio Manager at Davis Selected and a director of Venture Advisers, Inc.
and has been employed by Davis Selected since 1989.
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