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Reinsurance | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Reinsurance Disclosures [Abstract] |
Reinsurance | 9. Reinsurance The Company enters into reinsurance agreements primarily as a purchaser of reinsurance for its various insurance products and also as a provider of reinsurance for some insurance products issued by third parties. The Company participates in reinsurance activities in order to limit losses, minimize exposure to significant risks and provide additional capacity for future growth. Under the terms of the reinsurance agreements, the reinsurer agrees to reimburse the Company for the ceded amount in the event a claim is paid. Cessions under reinsurance agreements do not discharge the Company’s obligation as the primary insurer. In the event that reinsurers do not meet their obligations under the terms of the reinsurance agreements, reinsurance recoverable balances could become uncollectible. Accounting for reinsurance requires extensive use of assumptions and estimates, particularly related to the future performance of the underlying business and the potential impact of counterparty credit risks. The Company periodically reviews actual and anticipated experience compared to the aforementioned assumptions used to establish assets and liabilities relating to ceded and assumed reinsurance and evaluates the financial strength of counterparties to its reinsurance agreements using criteria similar to that evaluated in the security impairment process discussed in “ – Fixed Maturity Securities AFS – Evaluation of Fixed Maturity Securities AFS for Credit Loss” in Note 11. Group Benefits For its Group Benefits segment, the Company generally retains most of the risk, with the exception of its Group Term Life business and certain client arrangements. The Company reinsures an 80% quota share of its Group Term Life business for capital management purposes. The majority of the Company’s other reinsurance activity within this segment relates to client agreements for employer sponsored captive programs, risk-sharing agreements and multinational pooling. The risks ceded under these agreements are generally quota shares of group life and disability policies. The cessions vary and the Company may cede up to 100% of all the risks of the policies. RIS The Company’s RIS segment has engaged in reinsurance activities on an opportunistic basis. The Company reinsures longevity risks for certain pension products issued by unaffiliated providers located in the U.K. Asia, Latin America and EMEA For selected large corporate clients, the Company reinsures group employee benefits or credit insurance business with various client-affiliated reinsurance companies, covering policies issued to the employees or customers of the clients. Additionally, the Company cedes and assumes risk with other insurance companies when either company requires a business partner with the appropriate local licensing to issue certain types of policies in certain jurisdictions. In these cases, the assuming company typically underwrites the risks, develops the products and assumes most or all of the risk. The Company also has reinsurance agreements in-force that reinsure a portion of the living and death benefit guarantees issued in connection with variable annuity products. Under these agreements, the Company pays reinsurance fees associated with the guarantees collected from policyholders and receives reimbursement for benefits paid or accrued in excess of account values, subject to certain limitations. The Company may also reinsure certain risks with external reinsurers depending upon the nature of the risk and local regulatory requirements. MetLife Holdings For its life products, the Company has historically reinsured the mortality risk primarily on an excess of retention basis or on a quota share basis. In addition to reinsuring mortality risk as described above, the Company reinsures other risks, as well as specific coverages. Placement of reinsurance is done primarily on an automatic basis and also on a facultative basis for risks with specified characteristics. The Company also assumes portions of the risk associated with certain whole life policies issued by a former affiliate and reinsures certain term life policies and universal life policies with secondary death benefit guarantees to such former affiliate. In 2023, the Company reinsured an in-force block of universal life, variable universal life, universal life with secondary guarantees and fixed annuities to a third party on a 100% quota share basis. For its other products, the Company has a reinsurance agreement in-force to reinsure the living and death benefit guarantees issued in connection with certain variable annuity guarantees from a third party in Japan. Under this agreement, the Company receives reinsurance fees associated with the guarantees collected from policyholders, and provides reimbursement for benefits paid or accrued in excess of account values, subject to certain limitations. Catastrophe Coverage The Company has exposure to catastrophes which could contribute to significant fluctuations in the Company’s results of operations. For the Group Benefits and EMEA segments, the Company purchases catastrophe coverage to reinsure risks issued within territories that the Company believes are subject to the greatest catastrophic risks. For its other segments, the Company uses excess of retention and quota share reinsurance agreements to provide greater diversification of risk and minimize exposure to larger risks. Excess of retention reinsurance agreements provide for a portion of a risk to remain with the direct writing company and quota share reinsurance agreements provide for the direct writing company to transfer a fixed percentage of all risks of a class of policies. Reinsurance Recoverables The Company reinsures its business through a diversified group of well-capitalized reinsurers. The Company analyzes recent trends in arbitration and litigation outcomes in disputes, if any, with its reinsurers. The Company monitors ratings and evaluates the financial strength of its reinsurers by analyzing their financial statements. In addition, the reinsurance recoverable balance due from each reinsurer is evaluated as part of the overall monitoring process. Recoverability of reinsurance recoverable balances is evaluated based on these analyses. The Company generally secures large reinsurance recoverable balances with various forms of collateral, including secured trusts, funds withheld accounts and irrevocable letters of credit. These reinsurance recoverable balances are stated net of allowances for uncollectible reinsurance, which at December 31, 2023 and 2022, were not significant. A U.S. life insurance subsidiary of the Company also secured collateral from its counterparties to mitigate counterparty default risk related to its longevity reinsurance agreements. The Company has secured certain reinsurance recoverable balances with various forms of collateral, including secured trusts, funds withheld accounts and irrevocable letters of credit. The Company had $4.4 billion and $3.8 billion of unsecured reinsurance recoverable balances at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. At December 31, 2023, the Company had $16.7 billion of net ceded reinsurance recoverables. Of this total, $14.1 billion, or 84%, were with the Company’s five largest ceded reinsurers, including $2.5 billion of net ceded reinsurance recoverables which were unsecured. At December 31, 2022, the Company had $6.1 billion of net ceded reinsurance recoverables. Of this total, $4.2 billion, or 69%, were with the Company’s five largest ceded reinsurers, including $2.3 billion of net ceded reinsurance recoverables which were unsecured. The Company has reinsured, with an unaffiliated third-party reinsurer, 59% of the closed block through a modified coinsurance agreement. The Company accounts for this agreement under the deposit method of accounting. The Company, having the right of offset, has offset the modified coinsurance deposit liability with the deposit recoverable. The amounts on the consolidated statements of operations include the impact of reinsurance. Information regarding the significant effects of reinsurance was as follows:
|  | Years Ended December 31,
|  | 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2021
|  | (In millions)
Premiums |  |  |  |  |  |
Direct premiums |  | $ | 43,359 |  |  | $ | 47,618 |  |  | $ | 40,377 |
Reinsurance assumed |  | 3,112 |  |  | 3,035 |  |  | 2,909 |
Reinsurance ceded |  | (2,188) |  |  | (2,143) |  |  | (2,134) |
Net premiums |  | $ | 44,283 |  |  | $ | 48,510 |  |  | $ | 41,152 |
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees |  |  |  |  |  |
Direct universal life and investment-type product policy fees |  | $ | 5,787 |  |  | $ | 5,687 |  |  | $ | 5,813 |
Reinsurance assumed |  | (19) |  |  | 32 |  |  | (13) |
Reinsurance ceded |  | (616) |  |  | (494) |  |  | (556) |
Net universal life and investment-type product policy fees |  | $ | 5,152 |  |  | $ | 5,225 |  |  | $ | 5,244 |
Policyholder benefits and claims |  |  |  |  |  |
Direct policyholder benefits and claims |  | $ | 44,155 |  |  | $ | 49,308 |  |  | $ | 43,199 |
Reinsurance assumed |  | 2,904 |  |  | 2,604 |  |  | 2,546 |
Reinsurance ceded |  | (2,469) |  |  | (2,405) |  |  | (2,627) |
Net policyholder benefits and claims |  | $ | 44,590 |  |  | $ | 49,507 |  |  | $ | 43,118 |
Policyholder liability remeasurement (gains) losses |  |  |  |  |  |
Direct policyholder liability remeasurement (gains) losses |  | $ | (54) |  |  | $ | 94 |  |  | $ | (185) |
Reinsurance assumed |  | (20) |  |  | 9 |  |  | 21 |
Reinsurance ceded |  | 29 |  |  | 11 |  |  | (8) |
Net policyholder liability remeasurement (gains) losses |  | $ | (45) |  |  | $ | 114 |  |  | $ | (172) |
Market risk benefits remeasurement (gains) losses |  |  |  |  |  |
Direct market risk benefits remeasurement (gains) losses |  | $ | (785) |  |  | $ | (3,636) |  |  | $ | (959) |
Reinsurance assumed |  | (214) |  |  | (46) |  |  | (291) |
Reinsurance ceded |  | 5 |  |  | 8 |  |  | 13 |
Net market risk benefits remeasurement (gains) losses |  | $ | (994) |  |  | $ | (3,674) |  |  | $ | (1,237) |
Other expenses |  |  |  |  |  |
Direct other expenses |  | $ | 12,760 |  |  | $ | 11,854 |  |  | $ | 11,984 |
Reinsurance assumed |  | 235 |  |  | 268 |  |  | 329 |
Reinsurance ceded |  | (285) |  |  | (263) |  |  | (295) |
Net other expenses |  | $ | 12,710 |  |  | $ | 11,859 |  |  | $ | 12,018 |
The amounts on the consolidated balance sheets include the impact of reinsurance. Information regarding the significant effects of reinsurance was as follows at:
|  | December 31,
|  | 2023 |  | 2022
|  | Direct |  | Assumed |  | Ceded |  | Total Balance Sheet |  | Direct |  | Assumed |  | Ceded |  | Total Balance Sheet
|  | (In millions)
Assets |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Premiums, reinsurance and other receivables |  | $ | 6,044 |  |  | $ | 1,405 |  |  | $ | 21,522 |  |  | $ | 28,971 |  |  | $ | 5,427 |  |  | $ | 1,505 |  |  | $ | 10,432 |  |  | $ | 17,364 |
Market risk benefits |  | 279 |  |  | 7 |  |  | — |  |  | 286 |  |  | 273 |  |  | 7 |  |  | — |  |  | 280 |
Deferred policy acquisition costs and value of business acquired |  | 20,297 |  |  | 353 |  |  | (499) |  |  | 20,151 |  |  | 19,522 |  |  | 352 |  |  | (221) |  |  | 19,653 |
Total assets |  | $ | 26,620 |  |  | $ | 1,765 |  |  | $ | 21,023 |  |  | $ | 49,408 |  |  | $ | 25,222 |  |  | $ | 1,864 |  |  | $ | 10,211 |  |  | $ | 37,297 |
Liabilities |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Future policy benefits |  | $ | 192,424 |  |  | $ | 3,982 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 196,406 |  |  | $ | 183,377 |  |  | $ | 3,845 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 187,222 |
Market risk benefits |  | 3,141 |  |  | 38 |  |  | — |  |  | 3,179 |  |  | 3,591 |  |  | 172 |  |  | — |  |  | 3,763 |
Other policy-related balances |  | 18,852 |  |  | 1,152 |  |  | (268) |  |  | 19,736 |  |  | 17,250 |  |  | 1,183 |  |  | (9) |  |  | 18,424 |
Other liabilities |  | 27,125 |  |  | 1,892 |  |  | 6,788 |  |  | 35,805 |  |  | 18,654 |  |  | 2,006 |  |  | 5,273 |  |  | 25,933 |
Total liabilities |  | $ | 241,542 |  |  | $ | 7,064 |  |  | $ | 6,520 |  |  | $ | 255,126 |  |  | $ | 222,872 |  |  | $ | 7,206 |  |  | $ | 5,264 |  |  | $ | 235,342 |
Reinsurance agreements that do not expose the Company to a reasonable possibility of a significant loss from insurance risk are recorded using the deposit method of accounting. Included in the above table are deposit assets on reinsurance of $5.1 billion and $1.9 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Also, included in the table above are deposit liabilities on reinsurance of $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In November 2023, the Company completed a risk transfer transaction with subsidiaries of Global Atlantic Financial Group, a retirement and life insurance company, to reinsure an in-force block of universal life, variable universal life, universal life with secondary guarantees, and fixed annuities, which are reported in the MetLife Holdings segment. The Company entered into reinsurance agreements on a coinsurance basis for the general account products and on a modified coinsurance basis for the separate account products. The Company recorded reinsurance recoverables and deposit receivables of $10.3 billion at December 31, 2023 reported in premiums, reinsurance and other receivables. At inception of the agreement, in addition to recording the amount recoverable, the Company (i) transferred to the reinsurer $9.5 billion of assets primarily consisting of fixed maturity securities AFS and mortgage loans supporting the general account liabilities reduced by a $2.2 billion pre-tax ceding commission, (ii) retained $5.0 billion separate account assets under the modified coinsurance arrangement and (iii) recorded the net cost of reinsurance of $770 million within other liabilities, related to universal life, variable universal life and universal life with secondary guarantees reinsured. The net cost of reinsurance will be amortized on a basis consistent with the methodologies and assumptions used for amortizing DAC related to the underlying reinsured contracts in policyholder benefits and claims. As part of this transaction, the Company’s investment management business entered into investment advisory and other agreements with subsidiaries of Global Atlantic Financial Group to serve as the investment manager for certain of the transferred general account assets. With certain exceptions, the agreements contemplate a term of five years.

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- Definition The entire disclosure pertaining to the existence, magnitude and information about insurance that has been ceded to or assumed from another insurance company, including the methodologies and assumptions used in determining recorded amounts. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 944 -SubTopic 20 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479838/944-20-50-3 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 944 -SubTopic 20 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479838/944-20-50-4 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef -Topic 944 -SubTopic 605 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 55 -Paragraph 12 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479629/944-605-55-12 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef -Topic 944 -SubTopic 605 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 55 -Paragraph 15 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479629/944-605-55-15 + Details
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