MetLife's asset arm closes $1.2B private equity fund via secondary deal
What's the deal? MetLife Investment Management (MIM)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed roughly $1.2 billion in commitments to MetLifeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Investment Private Equity Partners Fund III (MIPEP III), the third fund in its private equity platform for institutional investors. The fund bought about $754 million of private equity, venture capital, and co-investment interests from MetLife affiliates in a managed secondary sale.
The mechanics: Funds managed by Lexington Partners anchored the deal as lead investor. The acquired stakes carry funded and unfunded commitments totaling $966 million, spanning nearly 80 investments diversified globally.
Why now? The sale follows strong returns for MetLife's general account private equity portfolio, which held $14.2 billion in assets as of March 31, 2026. Over the past decade, MIM's private equity team has deployed nearly $20.9 billion in alternative investments.
What's the endgame? MIPEP III builds on MIM's earlier platform funds — roughly $1.6 billion for MIPEP I in 2022 and about $1.2 billion for MIPEP II in 2024. "This expands our ability to deliver differentiated private markets solutions," said Brian Funk, president of MIM.
The signal: The private equity secondary market keeps expanding as investors seek new ways to access diversified portfolios. "Investors are increasingly seeking innovative structures to access diversified, high-quality portfolios," said Wil Warren, partner and president of Lexington. With $736.3 billion in total assets under management, MIM is leaning into large-scale managed secondaries as a repeatable route to grow its private equity platform.
Read more: Business Wire
Image credit: Andrew E. Larsen
