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[THE NEW ENGLAND FINANCIAL ANNUITIES LOGO APPEARS HERE]
September, 2000
TO OWNERS OF ZENITH ACCUMULATOR VARIABLE ANNUITY CONTRACTS:
A Special Meeting of Shareholders of New England Zenith Fund (the "Trust") will
be held on October 30, 2000. At the Shareholders Meeting, Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company ("MetLife") will vote all shares of the Trust held in The New
England Variable Account which are attributable to Zenith Accumulator Variable
Annuity Contracts in accordance with instructions received from
Contractholders. You are now being asked how shares of the Trust deemed
attributable to your Contract should be voted at the Shareholders Meeting.
Under some plans, plan participants (i.e. annuitants) may have the right to
instruct Contractholders as to how all or a portion of the votes attributable
to a Contract are to be cast, and Contractholders are required to cast such
votes as instructed.
IN ORDER FOR THE VOTES UNDER YOUR CONTRACTS TO BE VOTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY YOU AND YOUR ANNUITANTS, YOU MUST RETURN A COMPLETED,
EXECUTED INSTRUCTION FORM. If you fail to return an executed Instruction Form,
shares of the Trust deemed attributable to your Contracts will be voted by
MetLife in proportion to the voting instructions received from all other Zenith
Accumulator Contractholders.
Enclosed you will find a copy of the Notice of Meeting and Proxy Statement
relating to the Shareholders Meeting, as well as voting instruction forms with
the names of the annuitants who may be entitled to instruct the Contractholder.
Please forward promptly (1) one Notice of Meeting and Proxy Statement and (2)
one Instruction Form to each annuitant entitled to give voting instructions.
One Instruction Form is enclosed for each annuitant who has a right to instruct
the Contractholder as to how votes are to be cast.
The Instruction Form is to be used by each annuitant to convey instructions to
you as Contractholder. INSTRUCTION FORMS COMPLETED BY YOUR ANNUITANTS SHOULD
NOT BE RETURNED. AFTER YOU HAVE RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS FROM AN ANNUITANT, YOU
SHOULD TRANSFER THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ANNUITANT LISTING PROVIDED. RETURN
ONLY THE SINGLE INSTRUCTION FORM IN YOUR NAME, SIGNED BY YOU, ALONG WITH THE
APPROPRIATELY CHECKED ANNUITANT LIST.
If no annuitants transmit voting instructions, or if the annuitants do not have
the right to instruct, cast all votes at your sole discretion by completing and
signing the Instruction Form.
In order to cast votes under the Contracts, you must return an INSTRUCTION FORM
signed by you, the Contractholder.
If you have any questions concerning these procedures, please call collect,
Melissa Colombo, Marketing and Communications Specialist, New England Life
Insurance Company at (617) 578-3499.
[THE NEW ENGLAND FINANCIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY ADDRESS LOGO APPEARS HERE]
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ZAVAT
