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MetLife Investment Management originates record $7.0 billion in private placement debt for 1H 2018

MET | September 21, 2018

MetLife Investment Management originates record $7.0 billion in private placement debt for 1H 2018

MetLife Investment Management (“MIM”), MetLife, Inc.’s (NYSE: MET) institutional asset management platform, announced today it originated a record $7.0 billion in private placement debt for the first half of 2018, a 45% increase over the same six-month period in 2017. This included $2.3 billion of investments originated on behalf of unaffiliated/third-party clients.

“Investment activity outpaced expectations through the first half of the year, and the strong momentum has continued,” said John Wills, global head of private debt origination for MIM. “Origination continues to demonstrate MIM’s strong private debt platform, supported by dedicated industry specialists across the globe. MIM’s private debt team focuses on long-term partnerships that enable us to deliver bespoke private debt solutions to issuers.”

MIM’s private debt origination included $5.3 billion in corporate private placement transactions and $1.7 billion in infrastructure and project finance debt transactions. Corporate debt transactions spanned a broad range of industries including industrials, utilities, consumer products, REITs, aviation and sports finance. MIM’s infrastructure platform continued to be a market leader in long-term global infrastructure private debt lending with activity focused on core infrastructure assets, including airports, ports, railroads, renewable power and social infrastructure.

Origination activity grew MIM’s total private debt portfolio to $67.2 billion at 30 June, 2018^[1]. MIM’s private debt portfolio is globally diversified, with 65% of the portfolio in North America, followed by 21% in Europe, 8% in Australia and the remaining 6% in other jurisdictions, including a growing presence in Latin America. MIM’s global reach, its long-standing market relationships, and the ability to provide customized debt solutions including fixed and floating-rate debt as well as multi-currency financing options supported the group’s record first half.

Wills added: “In our view, the pipeline through the end of the year looks solid. MIM’s focus will continue to be on providing customized financing options for our issuers.”

^[1] Represents the estimated fair value of privately-placed and certain public securities managed by MIM’s Private Placement Unit for both MetLife’s general account and unaffiliated/third-party clients. The portion of such securities managed for MetLife’s general account and included in its consolidated financial statements was $44.5 billion, at estimated fair value, at June 30, 2018.

About MetLife Investment Management

MetLife Investment Management, MetLife, Inc.’s institutional asset management platform, provides institutional investors including corporate and government pension plans, insurance companies and other financial institutions with long-term public and private investment and financing solutions. With operations in the Americas, Asia and the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) regions, MetLife Investment Management manages assets for third-party institutional investors, separate accounts and MetLife, Inc.’s general account. MetLife Investment Management leverages a disciplined credit research and underwriting process to provide institutional investors with asset origination and acquisition opportunities and proprietary risk management analytics across traditional fixed income strategies, commercial real estate debt and equity investing, agricultural financing, and private placements, among others. For more information, visit www.metlife.com/investments.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

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