MetLife (MET) Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 summary

Strategic initiatives and performance

• Launched the New Frontier strategy, targeting strong growth, attractive returns, and lower risk, with a five-year plan extending to 2025.

• Achieved significant progress in group benefits, asset management, and international growth, with notable expansion in Mexico and Brazil.

• Grew assets under management from $600 billion to over $740 billion, aiming for $1 billion in earnings in the near term.

• Emphasized diversification across products, geographies, and investment portfolios as a core strength.

Financial targets and capital management

• Established a double-digit EPS growth target, supported by a 60-40 split between earnings growth and capital management.

• Maintains a 15%-17% ROE goal, driven by growth in higher ROE businesses, runoff of legacy holdings, and strong new business returns.

• Committed to reducing the expense ratio by 100 basis points over five years, leveraging AI and process reengineering.

• Achieved an expense ratio of 11.7, targeting 11.3, with PineBridge acquisition integration underway.

Group benefits and market trends

• Early actions on persistency in 2025 put temporary pressure on growth, but strong 1-1 renewals and bundled product offerings are driving recovery.

• Investments in leave and absence solutions, such as MyLeave, are resonating with customers and supporting bundled sales.

• Maintains strong diversification in group benefits, enabling resilience across economic cycles.

• Life loss ratios improved to 83%-88%, with some favorability expected to persist; disability ratios saw a slight uptick in Q4 but remain within expectations.