The group also expanded its lending activities on the international scene by making CRE loans in the UK and Mexico, and committed to invest around $1bn in real estate equity.
US-headquartered MetLife is one of the largest commercial mortgage lenders among life insurers. "Real estate investments are an important part of MetLife's asset-liability matching programme. The long-term nature of these investments makes them a good match for the long-term liabilities," the company said.
The insurer's institutional asset management business, MetLife Investment Management (MIM), originated around $1.1bn in commercial mortgage loans for clients.
"We continued to create attractive opportunities for institutional investors at MIM, and we believe that 2016 will bring more success in asset management," said Robert Merck, senior managing director and global head of real estate investments for MetLife.
MIM manages around $20bn on behalf of third-party investors in various asset classes including real estate equity, real estate debt and private placements.
MetLife is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. The insurer is planning to separate a large part of its US retail business, citing the new regulatory burden as a factor. Since it was designated a non-bank systemically important financial institution in December 2014, it has been fighting in court to have the tag removed.
