MetLife Puts Old Individual Life, Annuity and LTCI Business Under CFO

MetLife Inc. says it wants to get more cash out of its closed blocks of life, annuity and long-term care insurance (LTCI) business.

Executives at the New York-based company talked about those goals Friday, when they announced a change in how the company will run its MetLife Holdings unit.

(Related: Are Buybacks Destroying Value?)

MetLife put most of its continuing life and annuity operations into Brighthouse Financial Inc. MetLife converted Brighthouse into a separate company in 2017, by distributing shares of Brighthouse stock to MetLife shareholders.

MetLife formed MetLife Holdings to oversee the blocks of individual life, annuity and LTCI business that it kept on its own books.

MetLife announced Friday that it will put John McCallion, the company’s new chief financial officer, in charge of overseeing the MetLife Holdings business.

The MetLife Holdings business generated $1.3 billion in adjusted earnings in 2018, MetLife said.

Frank Cassandra, a senior vice president who has been managing the MetLife Holdings business, will report to McCallion, MetLife said.

MetLife Holdings had been reporting to Martin Lippert, MetLife’s head of global technology and operations.

Lippert, who is 58, is retiring April 30, according to MetLife.

McCallion said in a statement that MetLife’s goal for MetLife Holdings “is to maintain our strong focus on customer service while improving operating efficiency to generate distributable cash.”

“Just as important, we will continue to look for opportunities to accelerate the appropriate release of capital and reserves,” McCallion said in the statement.

In the past, some other LTCI and annuity issuers have talked about successful efforts to free up reserves by persuading consumers to give up their products.

— Read Just Saying No to LTCI Rate Hikes Won’t Work: Regulator, on ThinkAdvisor.

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