Commercial real estate has been on a "positive rebound" for MetLife, said executive VP, chief financial officer, and head of investment management John McCallion on an earnings call.

Real estate investments provided an important anchor in MetLife's third quarter. "The private equity portfolio, which had over $14 billion in VII assets as of September 30 had a positive 0.6% return in the quarter," McCallion said. "This compared to a 1.4% return in Q3 of '23. While PE returns were below recent trends, our real estate-related and other funds of roughly $4.5 billion continued to improve with a 1.1% return in the quarter. As a reminder, PE, real estate-related and other funds are reported on a one-quarter lag and accounted for on a mark-to-market basis."

The sequential improvement of "real estate and other funds" continued a trend the company saw this year. Conditions have been good, with inflation now under control, unemployment at historically low levels, and a positive slope finally on the yield curve beyond two years.