“We continue to manage expenses on a full year basis, and this quarter reinforces confidence in our ability to deliver against our 2026 target.”

In context

“I firms, which are benefiting from higher valuations and contributed positively to returns this quarter. For example, our venture capital portfolio generated a 6.8% return this quarter. In short, our software exposure is intentional, well controlled and not an area of concern from a risk or capital perspective. Now turning to expenses on Page 9. Our direct expense ratio was 11.9% in the Q1 of '26, ahead of our full year target of 12.1%. This compares with 11.7% for the full year 2025 and 12% in the first quarter of last year. This quarter's performance was driven by strong PFO growth and continued expense discipline, which allowed us to successfully absorb the roughly 50 basis point impact from the PineBridge acquisition that we previously disclosed, while still coming in ahead of target. We continue to manage expenses on a full year basis, and this quarter reinforces confidence in our ability to deliver against our 2026 target. Moving to Slide 10. MetLife continues to operate from a position of strong capital and robust liquidity. As of March 31, cash and liquid assets at the holding companies totaled $3.9 billion toward the high end of our target cash buffer range of $3 billion to $4 billion. During the first quarter, we returned approximately $1.1 billion to shareholders, including approximately $750 million of share repurchases. And we repurchased approximately $200 million of additional shares in April. Our capital actions reflect confidence in both the near-term earnings and long-term free cash flow durability. For our U.S. companies, our 2025 combined NAIC RBC ratio was 379%, well above our target ratio of 360%. Preliminary first quarter 2026 statutory operating earnings were approximately $610 million wit”