MetLife Inc, the largest life insurer in the United States, warned that 2013 earnings might be well below what Wall Street expects and said it needed to accelerate its strategic plans amid a persistently low interest-rate environment.While MetLife has said in past that it was well equipped to handle years of low rates, particularly with a hedging program it put in place, the company acknowledged on Thursday that it was in a "lower-for-longer" scenario.Because their obligations are usually long-term, life insurers invest the premiums they collect in hopes of generating sufficient return to pay those obligations over time. In a low-rate environment, it becomes much harder for insurers to generate enough return to meet those commitments.MetLife said operating earnings per share next year would be lower than this year, defying expectations of low single-digit growth. However, it also said the forecast was "broadly consistent" with its long-term outlook of a year ago.
MetLife, Inc. (MetLife), is a provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs, serving 90 million customers in over 50 countries. Shares of MET remained unchanged at $33.61. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $27.60 and as high as $39.55. On average, 10634900 shares of MET exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6400.
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