Green Investments
MetLife Investment Management is committed to sound environmental stewardship, demonstrated by consistent investment in green building and renewable energy opportunities. In 2017, we invested in more than $500 million in green initiatives, bringing our total green investments to $15.1 billion.
Real estate is a key focus. We hold equity stakes in 55 LEED-certified real estate properties. It is our belief that we can support the broader real estate sector’s transition to a more energy-efficient, sustainable sector in the future. We have ESG committees that evaluate our investment opportunities, and we participate in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) survey.
Renewable energy projects continue to generate sustainable, long-term returns. We have ownership stakes in almost 40 wind and solar farms that produce clean energy to power almost 1.5 million homes. We also own Energy Savings Performance Contracts, which are debt financings under which the U.S. government, military or other government agencies contract with a service provider to install energy-efficient equipment.
We continue to seek out attractive investments in high-quality, public green bonds. According to our research, almost $130 billion in green bonds were issued in 2017, with significant growth in long duration paper (16-30 years). We expect this growth in the longer duration spectrum to provide additional investment opportunities.
