METLIFE INC

We continue to be impacted by the changing global financial and economic environment that has been affecting the industry.

Financial and Economic Environment

Our business and results of operations are materially affected by conditions in the global financial markets and the economy generally due to our market presence in numerous countries, our large investment portfolio and the sensitivity of our insurance liabilities and derivatives to changing market factors.

Governments and central banks around the world use fiscal and monetary policies to address uncertain economic conditions. In the United States (“U.S.”), the Federal Open Market Committee took various actions in 2025 to promote employment and combat inflation, including lowering interest rates in the second half of the year and ending the process of quantitative tightening. While rates have remained steady in 2026, labor market conditions, inflation, and financial and international developments, as well as other factors, could result in policy adjustments later this year. Other central banks have recently diverged on monetary policies, reflecting differing local economic conditions and views on the impact of the foregoing factors. We are closely monitoring these and other political and economic conditions that might contribute to global market volatility and impact our business operations, investment portfolio, value of our assets under management (“AUM”), and derivatives, such as global inflation, supply chain disruptions, acts of war, banking sector volatility and employment and work policies of the federal government. We are also monitoring the imposition of tariffs, sanctions or other barriers to international trade, changes to international trade agreements, and their potential impacts on our business, results of operations and financial condition. See “— Investments — Current Environment,” as well as “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Industry Trends — Impact of Market Interest Rates — Effects of Inflation” in the 2025 Annual Report.

Impact of Market Interest Rates

Market interest rates are a key driver of our results. Increases and decreases in such rates, as well as extended periods of stagnation, may impact our business and investments in various ways. In our institutional asset management business, interest rate movements, as well as other changes to market factors such as credit spreads and equity prices, can impact the value of the AUM on which fees are earned. For a discussion of the potential impact of low and rising interest rates, and inflation, as well as management actions taken in response to the changing U.S. interest rate environment, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Industry Trends — Impact of Market Interest Rates” and “Risk Factors — Economic Environment and Capital Markets Risks” included in the 2025 Annual Report.

Competitive Pressures

The life insurance and institutional asset management industries are highly competitive. See “Business — Competition,” “Business — Regulation,” “Risk Factors — Business Risks — We May Face Competition for Business,” “Risk Factors — Economic Environment and Capital Markets Risks — We May Face Difficult Economic Conditions” and “Risk Factors — Regulatory and Legal Risks — Changes in Laws or Regulation, or in Supervisory and Enforcement Policies, May Reduce Our Profitability, Limit Our Growth, or Otherwise Adversely Affect Us” in the 2025 Annual Report.

Regulatory Developments

The following discussion on regulatory developments should be read in conjunction with “Business — Regulation” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Industry Trends — Regulatory Developments” included in the 2025 Annual Report, as amended or supplemented here.

Standards of Conduct, ERISA, Fiduciary Considerations, and Other Pension and Retirement Regulation

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) final version of the prohibited transaction exemption (“PTE”) 2020-02 went into effect, which allows investment advice fiduciaries to receive compensation without violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), subject to impartial conduct standards and disclosure obligations aligned with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. In the preamble to PTE 2020-02, the DOL also provided its interpretation of the five-part test used to determine whether a person is acting as an ERISA investment advice fiduciary. In April 2024, the DOL finalized and published a regulation to change the definition of “fiduciary” for purposes of ERISA and parallel provisions of the Code, when a financial professional, including an insurance producer, provides investment advice, and to amend various existing PTEs that financial professionals rely on when making recommendations.

Shortly thereafter, litigation commenced challenging these changes and two federal district courts have since issued orders vacating the 2024 definition of an investment advice fiduciary and vacated the associated 2024 PTE amendments. Both of these orders were unopposed by the DOL. In light of the litigation, the DOL released a final rule vacating (i) the preamble to PTE 2020-02 (while leaving the original PTE intact) and (ii) its 2024 changes to the definition of an investment advice fiduciary as well as its associated 2024 changes to various PTEs. As a result, the DOL has officially reinstated the original 1975 five-part regulatory test defining an investment advice fiduciary.