By David G. Barry
MetLife, Inc.’s institutional asset management business has launched a new private equity investment platform. MetLife Investment Management, which has $669 billion in assets under management, closed its first private equity fund of funds with approximately $1.6 billion.
MIM used approximately $1.2 billion of the fund to purchase a portfolio of private equity and venture capital assets with funded and unfunded commitments of $1.2 billion from MetLife Affiliates. The portfolio consists of nearly 80 PE and venture capital fund investments diversified globally and across a range of sectors. Met Life held $14 billion in private equity assets at the end of 2021.
Dave Franecki a MetLife spokesman, said this is the first time that MIM has raised a private equity fund of funds. He declined to comment on MIM’s plans for the platform. The move by MetLife, though, could be a guide for other institutional investors seeking to generate value from their holdings. HarbourVest Partners, a private markets investment firm, was the lead investor in the new fund. MIM syndicated a portion of the transaction to other unaffiliated institutional clients and intends to deploy the remaining $400 million in new private equity opportunities.
In a prepared statement, Steven Goulart, MIM’s president and executive vice president and chief investment officer for MetLife, said the “initial transaction provides us the opportunity to demonstrate the strength of our investment capabilities in private equity and venture capital and provide this offering to unaffiliated institutional investors, while also adjusting MetLife’s alternatives exposure.”
MIM’s private equity team has deployed nearly $18 billion of alternative investments on behalf of MetLife between 2007 and 2021. MIM also invests in fixed income and real estate on behalf of institutional investors globally. Parent MetLife provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management products.