MetLife, Inc. announced that it originated, through its real estate investments department, over $9.6 billion in commercial mortgage loans in 2012.
MetLife continues to be the largest portfolio lender in the insurance industry with $43.1 billion in commercial mortgages outstanding at year end 2012.
“MetLife was a very active lender domestically and internationally in 2012, as we continued to focus on top quality properties in major markets,” said Robert Merck, global head of MetLife Real Estate Investors.
“Our strategy for growth is based on prudent risk management and a longterm approach that enables us to execute quickly, process large transactions and provide our customers with world-class service.”
MetLife participated in a number of high-quality commercial mortgage transactions with loan sizes of
$175 million and above during 2012. Some noteworthy transactions included:
• $362 million loan on Waterside Plaza, a 1,471-unit apartment complex built over the East River in Manhattan;
• $264 million loan on Broadgate West, a Class A, top quality office complex in London;
• $258 million loan on The Westin in Times Square, a hotel located in Manhattan;
• $253 million loan on 101 California, a Class A, top quality office tower located in San Francisco;
• $200 million loan on a portfolio of retail properties in the U.K.; and
• $183 million loan collateralized by a portfolio of 39 industrial properties diversified in 10 Mexican markets. 2
Within its international portfolio, MetLife grew its commercial mortgage lending activities in 2012, originating over $1 billion in the U.K., $191 million in Mexico and more than 33.6 billion yen for its Japanese local account.
In October 2012, MetLife reorganized its real estate arm to better manage its investments and the investments for its institutional investors and launched a third party asset management business within the real estate investments department. This enables the company to use its experience in real estate to create investment opportunities that generate attractive, long-term returns for institutional investors.
“We have more than a century of experience in real estate investing and a world-class track record of managing over $480 billion in general account assets to generate strong returns for both our policyholders and shareholders,” said Steven J. Goulart, executive vice president and chief investment officer of MetLife, Inc. “We are now bringing these strengths to bear for thirdparty institutional investors, who have demonstrated an increased demand for these private asset sectors where MetLife has proven capabilities.”
MetLife’s $12 billion equity real estate portfolio includes investments in office, apartment, retail, industrial and hotel properties. MetLife’s real estate platform includes regional origination and asset management offices across eight cities in the U.S., as well as London, Mexico City, Tokyo and Santiago.
MetLife committed to acquire real estate and real estate joint ventures with property values of $2.9 billion during the year ended December 31, 2012. The company’s investment in such properties was $1.7 billion during that same period.
MetLife’s main focus has been on high quality core assets, with select opportunistic investments.
One of the more noteworthy transactions involved the purchase of Constitution Center, the largest privately-owned office building in Washington, D.C.
