NEW YORK CITY-MetLife announced Wednesday that in 2012 it originated, through its real estate investments department, over $9.6 billion in commercial mortgage loans. The company says it continues to be the largest portfolio lender in the insurance industry, with $43.1 billion in commercial mortgages outstanding at year-end. A spokesman was unable to provide an estimate for MetLife's lending activity in 2013 by press time.

In the announcement, MetLife Real Estate Investors global head revealed some secrets of the company's success. “MetLife was a very active lender domestically and internationally in 2012 as we continued to focus on top quality properties in major markets,” says Robert Merck, global head of MetLife. “Our strategy for growth is based on prudent risk management and a long-term 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, according to the announcement. Some noteworthy transactions included a $362 million loan on Waterside Plaza, a 1,471-unit apartment complex built over the East River and a $258 million loan on the Westin in Times Square.

The high amount of lending may also be a byproduct of the company's reorganization of its real estate arm in October, 2012 to better manage its investments and the investments for its institutional investors. It also launched a third-party asset management business within the real estate investments department. This enables the company to use its real estate experience to create investment opportunities, the release states.

“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,” says Steven Goulart, EVP and CIO of MetLife, in the announcement. “We are now bringing these strengths to bear for third party institutional investors, who have demonstrated an increased demand for these private asset sectors where MetLife has proven capabilities.”

Adds Merck, in the statement, “Building our real estate equity portfolio is at the heart of our recently unveiled third party asset management initiative, which will target opportunities to leverage our existing organizational expertise and scale to create long-term value for our investors.”

MetLife's $12 billion equity real estate portfolio includes investments in office, apartment, retail, industrial and hotel properties.

Instant Insights /

MetLife Commercial Lending Hit Nearly $10B In 2012

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