MetLife's Record Quarter Got A $720 Million Investment Kick, But CEO Says It Didn't Define Results
Variable investment income ran well above guidance, while pension risk transfer volume lags and AI-related exposure totals $4.1 billion.
MetLife, the insurer that sells group benefits, retirement products and asset management worldwide, posted its highest adjusted earnings per share ever, and CEO Michel Khalaf told analysts on the company's third-quarter earnings call that private equity gains helped but did not make the quarter. "While VII amplified the quarter, it did not define it," he said, using shorthand for variable investment income, which totaled $720 million before tax.
A private equity windfall
Chief Financial Officer John McCallion said the $720 million compared with implied quarterly guidance of $400 million. Private equity returns averaged 4.2%, led by venture capital, which returned more than 8% in the quarter and makes up about 25% of the private equity book.
McCallion said realizations, meaning gains cashed in, were the highest of any quarter. He added that roughly 10 managers hold exposure to newsworthy AI names, which helped returns.
Year to date, variable investment income is about $1.5 billion, putting MetLife on course to beat its full-year guide of about $1.6 billion. Asked about the fourth quarter by an analyst at Raymond James, McCallion said the company has no better information than to assume a $400 million quarterly run rate, and that it will give an early disclosure near quarter-end as it has before. Total assets generating this income were $18.8 billion at September 30, with 48% in Asia, 26% in Retirement and Income Solutions and 22% in corporate and other.
Earnings beyond the investment gain
Adjusted earnings were $1.8 billion, or $2.78 per share, including $46 million of notable items. Excluding them, earnings rose 17% to $1.8 billion and per-share earnings rose 22% to $2.85, both from a year earlier. Adjusted return on equity excluding notable items was 19.6%.
Khalaf said no single business drove results. The company returned roughly $3.5 billion to shareholders year to date through buybacks and dividends, including $650 million of repurchases in the quarter and $265 million in October.
Pension deals lag, AI exposure sized
U.S. pension risk transfer activity has been lighter this year. Ramy Tadros, president of the U.S. business, told a JPMorgan analyst the slowdown is "just timing." He said the pipeline is back-ended, with a few more deals expected this quarter, after $14 billion of such deals last year.
McCallion also laid out AI-related infrastructure exposure, citing increasing attention to the area: $1.6 billion to hyperscalers and $2.5 billion to data centers, or $4.1 billion combined. Each is under 1% of the general account, with no delinquencies or impairments.
MetLife says it expects a few more pension risk transfer deals in the fourth quarter, and it plans an early read on variable investment income as that quarter closes.
Sources
- MetLife (MET) Q3 Earnings: How Key Metrics Compare to Wall Street Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- MetLife Earnings: Variable Investment Income Boosted Strong Results, Shares Expensive | Morningstar — morningstar.com
- MetLife Non-GAAP EPS of $2.85 beats by $0.08, revenue of $20.52B beats by $550M (NYSE:MET) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- ALL, MET, AFL or PRI: Which Insurer Has the Edge for a Q3 Beat? — Yahoo Finance
- MetLife Announces 3Q 2026 Results — businesswire.com
