MetLife Investment Management (MIM), the institutional asset management business of MetLife, originated $15.1 billion in private placement debt and private structured credit across 245 transactions in 2022. This included $4.1 billion of investments originated on behalf of unaffiliated institutional clients. MIM’s total private placement assets under management stood at $89.5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022.
MIM’s private placement origination for 2022 included $8.5 billion, $4.7 billion and $1.9 billion in corporate, infrastructure and structured credit transactions, respectively, and added 94 new issuers to the portfolio.
“While an elevated interest rate environment and macroeconomic headwinds present near term-challenges for the capital markets, our global relationships combined with our team of experienced sector and structuring specialists position us well to continue to source and execute on financing opportunities tailored to meet the needs of our clients and issuers,” Nancy Mueller Handal, global head of private fixed income and alternatives at MIM, said.
Corporate private placement origination in 2022 continued to be diversified across a range of industries. Origination included more than $3.1 billion in financing for U.K. and European issuers, reflecting approximately 37% of total origination for 2022. Credit tenant leases (CTLs) accounted for more than $935 million of 2022’s origination, more than a 50% increase versus 2021’s CTL origination volume, reflecting MIM’s continued capability in sourcing and executing on opportunities in this sector. Investment also included $520 million in long-term, taxable loans made to three not-for-profit U.S. hospital systems in the second half of 2022.
“MIM’s corporate private placements team was able to grow its origination volume in 2022 despite a broader slowdown in capital markets activity due to the strength of our relationships with traditional agent banks and boutique advisory firms as well as MIM’s direct and propriety origination platform,” Jennifer Potenta, global head of corporate private placements, private structured credit and strategy at MIM, said.
Infrastructure origination in 2022 was also well diversified, led by $1.3 billion of investment in transportation-related assets, including rail, port, airport, toll road and marine projects. Financing for communication, renewable power, social housing assets and projects and water utilities rounded out the top five areas of infrastructure investment in 2022.
Notably, floating-rate origination volume represented more than 25% of the infrastructure team’s investment in 2022, the highest annual percentage recorded by MIM since 2014.
“Given project sponsors’ desire to manage recent interest rate volatility, MIM’s infrastructure group partnered with sponsors and agents on over 20 floating-rate transactions in 2022,” John Tanyeri, head of infrastructure/project finance at MIM, said.
