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MetLife's (MET) Asset Management Unit Acquires Raven Capital

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MetLife Inc’s (MET - Free Report) asset management business MetLife Investment Management (“MIM”) has agreed to acquire Raven Capital Management, a U.S.-based private credit manager specializing in direct asset-based investments.This acquisition would add around $2.1 billion to MIM’s assets under management.

MetLife is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, employee benefits, annuities and asset management services catering to individual and institutional customers.

The acquisition of Raven Capital would help MetLife’s asset management arm, having $579.8 billion in assets under management (as of Dec 31, 2022), enhance the existing offerings of its investment management business.

Raven Capital, a privately owned alternative investment company, invests across the private credit spectrum focusing on middle-market direct asset-based financing, including origination, underwriting, execution and management.

Raven’s acquisition reflects MET’s efforts to strengthen its market position in the asset management business, expanding its offering in private credit investments.

However, it is evident from the intense competition faced by asset management companies due to increased regulation and changing client needs that companies need to strengthen their positions by means of expansion.Raven’s acquisition can act as a catalyst for MET’s growth by enhancing its product offerings and attracting a large customer base.

MET’s U.S. segment accounted for approximately 61% of its total sales in 2022. Moreover, MetLife Investment Management has a strong presence in the United States, with a general account portfolio consisting mainly of fixed-income securities and mortgage loans. Hence, Raven’s acquisition can strengthen MET’s asset management business in the United States and help boost its profit in the long run.

Price Performance

Shares of MetLife have lost 2.8% year to date compared with the industry’s decline of 1.8%.

Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

MetLife currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks from the multi-line insurance industry are CNO Financial Group (CNO - Free Report) , Goosehead Insurance (GSHD - Free Report) and Old Republic International (ORI - Free Report) .All these companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of CNO Financial outpaced estimates intwo of the trailing four quarters, met the same in one and missed in the other occasion, the average surprise being 14.2%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNO’s 2023 earnings suggests animprovement of 10.7%, while the same for revenues indicates growth of 3.3% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for CNO’s 2023 earnings has moved 10.7% north in the past 30 days.

Goosehead Insurance’s bottom lineoutpaced estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed in the other two. The average of earnings surprises is 79.8%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GSHD’s 2023 earnings indicates a 61.8% rise, while the same for revenues suggests 27% growth from the respective prior-year reported figures.

The bottom line of Old Republic International outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimatein three of the trailing four quarters, while it missed in one, the average surprise being 21.9%. The consensus mark for ORI’s 2023 earnings has moved 7.3% north in the past 60 days.

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