“Looking ahead, we continue to expect VII returns to move toward the upper end of our near-term outlook range in the second half of the year, and we remain comfortable with our full year VII guidance of $1.5 billion.”

In context

“private equity portfolio, which makes up the majority of the VII asset balance had a positive 2.1% return in the quarter, while real estate equity funds had a negative 5.8% return in Q1 of '24. Both are reported on a 1-quarter lag. In addition, as we've seen signs of improvement in PE secondary markets, we have opportunistically divested roughly $750 million of private equity general account assets in Q1 of '24 at a modest discount. The transaction structure will allow MetLife Investment Management to continue managing the assets from the sale. We believe this transaction, which is similar to the roughly $1 billion divestment that we made in 2022 is a thoughtful approach to managing our investment allocation while supporting an important and growing fee-generating business for MetLife. Looking ahead, we continue to expect VII returns to move toward the upper end of our near-term outlook range in the second half of the year, and we remain comfortable with our full year VII guidance of $1.5 billion. On Page 6, we provide VII post-tax by segment for the fourth quarter of 2023 and Q1 of '24. As you can see in the chart, RIS, Asia and MetLife Holdings continue to hold the largest proportion of VII assets given their long-dated liability profile. Now turning to Page 7. The chart on the left of the page shows the split of our net investment income between recurring and VII for the past 3 years and Q1 of '23 versus Q1 of '24. Adjusted net investment income in Q1 of '24 was up roughly $500 million or 10% year-over-year. While recurring investment income moderated in the quarter due to the roll off of the interest rate caps, we did see a solid recovery in PE returns driving the VII improvement year-over-year. Shifting your attention to the right of the page, which shows our new money yiel”