Management continues to evaluate the Company’s segment performance and allocated resources and may adjust related measurements in the future to better reflect segment profitability. For example, starting in the first quarter of 2013, the Latin America segment includes U.S. sponsored direct business, comprised of group and individual products sold through sponsoring organizations and affinity groups. Products included are life, dental, group short- and long-term disability, accidental death & dismemberment (“AD&D”) coverages, property & casualty and other accident and health coverages, as well as non-insurance products such as identity protection. See Note 2 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on the Company’s segments and Corporate & Other.
As part of an enterprise-wide strategic initiative, by 2016, we expect to increase our operating return on common equity, excluding accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”), to the 12% to 14% range, driven by higher operating earnings. This target assumes that regulatory capital rules appropriately reflect the life insurance business model and that we have clarity on the rules in a reasonable time frame, allowing for meaningful share repurchases prior to 2016. If we are unable to engage in such repurchases, we expect the range of our operating return on common equity, excluding AOCI, to be 11% to 13%. Also, as part of this initiative, we will leverage our scale to improve the value we provide to customers and shareholders in order to achieve $1 billion in efficiencies, $600 million of which is expected to be related to net pre-tax expense savings, and $400 million of which we expect to be primarily reinvested in our technology, platforms and functionality to improve our current operations and develop new capabilities. We also continue to shift our product mix toward protection products and away from more capital-intensive products, in order to generate more predictable operating earnings and cash flows, and improve our risk profile and free cash flow.
The following summarizes the impact of a hypothetical interest rate stress scenario on our operating earnings and the mark-to-market of our derivative positions that do not qualify as accounting hedges assuming a continued low interest rate environment in the U.S.
For purposes of goodwill impairment testing, if the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value, the implied fair value of the reporting unit goodwill is compared to the carrying value of that goodwill to measure the amount of impairment loss, if any. In such instances, the implied fair value of the goodwill is determined in the same manner as the amount of goodwill that would be determined in a business acquisition. The key inputs, judgments and assumptions necessary in determining estimated fair value of the reporting units include projected operating earnings, current book value, the level of economic capital required to support the mix of business, long-term growth rates, comparative market multiples, the account value of in-force business, projections of new and renewal business, as well as margins on such business, the level of interest rates, credit spreads, equity market levels, and the discount rate that we believe is appropriate for the respective reporting unit. In performing the Company’s goodwill impairment tests, the estimated fair values of the reporting units are first determined using a market multiple valuation approach. When further corroboration is required, the Company uses a discounted cash flow valuation approach. For reporting units which are particularly sensitive to market assumptions, the Company may use additional valuation methodologies to estimate the reporting units’ fair values.
In June 2013, the government of Poland announced proposals to the country’s pension system that, if adopted, would have negatively impacted future operating earnings related to our pension business in Poland. We determined that this announcement was an event requiring an interim test of goodwill impairment for the EMEA reporting unit during the quarter ended June 30, 2013. We performed this interim test principally using a market multiple valuation approach. Results indicated that the fair value of the EMEA reporting unit exceeded its carrying value and, therefore, such goodwill was not impaired.
We determine the expected rate of return on plan assets based upon an approach that considers inflation, real return, term premium, credit spreads, equity risk premium and capital appreciation, as well as expenses, expected asset manager performance, asset weights and the effect of rebalancing. Given the amount of plan assets as of December 31, 2012, the beginning of the measurement year, if we had assumed an expected rate of return for both our pension and other postretirement benefit plans that was 100 basis points higher or 100 basis points lower than the rates we assumed, the change in our net periodic benefit costs would have been a decrease of $93 million and an increase of $93 million, respectively, in 2013. This considers only changes in our assumed long-term rate of return given the level and mix of invested assets at the beginning of the year, without consideration of possible changes in any of the other assumptions described above that could ultimately accompany any changes in our assumed long-term rate of return.
Long-term interest rates increased in 2012 but decreased in 2011 and contributed to an unfavorable change in our freestanding derivatives and favorable changes in our embedded derivatives.
In addition, an increase in operating expenses, primarily employee-related costs, was partially offset by a decline in expenses, most notably in our Retail segment, primarily driven by savings from the Company’s enterprise-wide strategic initiative and resulted in an $89 million decrease in operating earnings.
The rising equity markets increased our average separate account balances driving an increase in asset-based fee income. This continued positive equity market performance also drove higher net investment income from other limited partnership interests and resulted in lower DAC amortization. These positive impacts were partially offset by higher asset-based commissions, which are also, in part, determined by separate account balances and higher costs associated with our variable annuity guaranteed minimum death benefits (“GMDBs”). The sustained low interest rate environment resulted in a decline in net investment income on our fixed maturity securities and mortgage loans as proceeds from maturing investments are reinvested at lower yields. Additionally, we had a lower interest crediting rate on allocated equity in 2013, which resulted in lower net investment income. These negative interest rate impacts were partially offset by higher income earned on interest rate derivatives and lower interest credited expense as we reduced interest credited rates on contracts with discretionary rate reset provisions. Lower returns on real estate joint ventures also decreased operating earnings. The net impact of these items resulted in a $174 million increase in operating earnings. Also, the impact of the sustained low interest rate environment contributed to less favorable experience resulting in a reduction to our dividend scale, mainly within the closed block, which was announced in the fourth quarter of 2012. This dividend action favorably impacted operating earnings by $61 million. With respect to the results of the closed block, the impact of this dividend action was more than offset by other unfavorable earnings drivers that also affected the closed block and have been incorporated in these discussions.
The improving equity market resulted in higher fee income from increased separate account balances, a decrease in variable annuity GMDB liabilities and lower DAC amortization. In addition, the low interest rate environment continued to result in lower interest credited expense, as we reduced interest credited rates on contracts with discretionary rate reset provisions. Higher derivatives income from interest rate floors purchased prior to the onset of the low interest rate environment and higher returns on our private equity investments more than offset the decrease in yields on other invested asset classes. The net impact of these items resulted in a $174 million increase in operating earnings. Also, the impact of the low interest rate environment contributed to less favorable experience resulting in a reduction to our dividend scale, mainly within the closed block, which was announced in the fourth quarter of 2011. This dividend action favorably impacted operating earnings by $19 million, net of DAC amortization. With respect to the results of the closed block, the impact of this dividend action was offset by other earnings drivers of the closed block, including net investment income, which were unfavorable and have been incorporated in the respective discussions herein.
The sustained low interest rate environment has resulted in underfunded pension plans, which limits our customers’ ability to engage in full pension plan closeout terminations. However, we expect that customers may choose to close out portions of pension plans over time, at costs reflecting current interest rates and availability of capital. During 2012, the conversion of an existing contract involving the transfer of funds from the separate account to the general account resulted in a significant increase in premiums in our domestic closeout business. Structured settlement sales have decreased $463 million, before income tax, reflecting a more competitive market and a decrease in demand due to the low interest rate environment. Changes in premiums for these businesses were almost entirely offset by the related changes in policyholder benefits. The impact of 2012 premiums, deposits, funding agreement issuances, and increased participation in the securities lending program, contributed to an increase in invested assets, resulting in an increase of $179 million in operating earnings. The growth in premiums, deposits and funding agreement issuances generally result in a corresponding increase in interest credited on certain insurance liabilities; this decreased operating earnings by $158 million in 2012 as compared to 2011.
Asia experienced sales growth in ordinary and universal life products in Japan, resulting in higher premiums and universal life fees, and variable life and accident & health products in Korea, which drove higher fees over 2011. Changes in premiums for these businesses were partially offset by related changes in policyholder benefits. In addition, average invested assets increased over 2011, reflecting positive cash flows from our annuity business in Japan generating increases in both net investment income and policy fee income, partially offset by an increase in interest credited to policyholders. The increase in sales also generated higher commissions and other sales-related expenses, which were partially offset by an increase in related DAC capitalization. The combined impact of the items discussed above improved operating earnings by $99 million.
Unfavorable claims experience in 2012 decreased operating earnings by $38 million. Japan’s 2011 results included $39 million of insurance claims and operating expenses related to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. In addition, a 2011 tax benefit in Korea and Australia, combined with a 2012 tax expense related to net operating loss carryforwards in Hong Kong, resulted in a $21 million net decrease in operating earnings.
Operating earnings increased by $20 million over 2011. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced operating earnings by $23 million for 2012 compared to 2011 and resulted in significant variances in the financial statement line items. The fourth quarter 2011 purchase of a Turkish life insurance and pension company and the third quarter 2012 acquisition of life insurance businesses in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania from the members of the Aviva Plc. group increased operating earnings by $15 million.
Excluding Europe’s perimeter region and Cyprus which is discussed below, our holdings of sovereign debt, corporate debt and perpetual hybrid securities in certain EU member states and other countries in the region that are not members of the EU (collectively, the “European Region”) were concentrated in the U.K., Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway and Sweden. The sovereign debt of these countries continues to maintain investment grade credit ratings from all major rating agencies. In the European Region, we have proactively mitigated risk in both direct and indirect exposures by investing in a diversified portfolio of high quality investments with a focus on the higher-rated countries. Sovereign debt issued by countries outside of Europe’s perimeter region and Cyprus comprised $9.0 billion, or 99% of our European Region sovereign fixed maturity securities, at estimated fair value, at December 31, 2013. The European Region corporate securities (fixed maturity and perpetual hybrid securities classified as non-redeemable preferred stock) are invested in a diversified portfolio of primarily non-financial services securities, which comprised $24.8 billion, or 74% of European Region total corporate securities, at estimated fair value, at December 31, 2013. Of these European Region sovereign fixed maturity and corporate securities, 91% were investment grade and, for the 9% that were below investment grade, the majority were non-financial services corporate securities at December 31, 2013. European Region financial services corporate securities, at estimated fair value, were $8.8 billion, including $6.6 billion within the banking sector, with 94% invested in investment grade rated corporate securities, at December 31, 2013.
All of these factors have had and could continue to have an adverse effect on the financial results of companies in the financial services industry, including MetLife. Such global economic conditions, as well as the global financial markets, continue to impact our net investment income, net investment gains (losses), net derivative gains (losses), and level of unrealized gains (losses) within the various asset classes in our investment portfolio and our level of investment in lower yielding cash equivalents and short-term investments. See “- Industry Trends” and “Risk Factors - Economic Environment and Capital Markets-Related Risks - We Are Exposed to Significant Financial and Capital Markets Risks Which May Adversely Affect Our Results of Operations, Financial Condition and Liquidity, and May Cause Our Net Investment Income to Vary from Period to Period.”
Overall OTTI losses recognized in earnings on fixed maturity and equity securities were $351 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to $1.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2011. The most significant decrease in 2012, as compared to 2011, was in foreign government securities. The decrease was primarily attributable to impairments in 2011 on Greece sovereign debt securities of $405 million as a result of the reduction in the expected recoverable amount and intent-to-sell fixed maturity security OTTI on other sovereign debt securities due to the repositioning of the acquired ALICO portfolio into longer duration and higher yielding investments. In addition, intent-to-sell OTTI related to the Divested Businesses of $154 million were recognized in 2011 and were primarily concentrated in the RMBS sector, while utility industry impairments within U.S. and foreign corporate securities increased $51 million in 2012.
See “- Liquidity and Capital Resources - The Company - Liquidity and Capital Uses - Securities Lending” and Note 8 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for financial information regarding our securities lending program.
We originated $10.5 billion and $9.6 billion of commercial mortgage loans during the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. We originated $3.3 billion and $3.0 billion of agricultural mortgage loans during the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
The carrying value of other limited partnership interests was $7.4 billion and $6.7 billion at December 31, 2013 and 2012 respectively, which included $1.9 billion and $1.4 billion of hedge funds, at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
We also participate in third-party custodian administered repurchase programs for the purpose of enhancing the total return on our investment portfolio. We loan certain of our fixed maturity securities to financial institutions and, in exchange, non-cash collateral is put on deposit by the financial institutions on our behalf with third-party custodians. The estimated fair value of securities loaned in connection with these transactions was $231 million and $729 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Non-cash collateral on deposit with third-party custodians on our behalf was $256 million and $785 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, which cannot be sold or re-pledged, and which has not been recorded on our consolidated balance sheets.
We establish liabilities for amounts payable under insurance policies. See Notes 1 and 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information. See also “- Industry Trends - Impact of a Sustained Low Interest Rate Environment - Interest Rate Stress Scenario” and “- Variable Annuity Guarantees.” A discussion of future policy benefits by segment follows.
Total contract account value excludes $2.2 billion for contracts with no GMDBs and approximately $11.9 billion of total contract account value in the EMEA and Asia segments.
Total contract account value above excludes $53.3 billion for contracts with no living benefit guarantees and approximately $9.1 billion of total contract account value in the EMEA and Asia segments.
Once eligible for annuitization, contractholders would only be expected to annuitize if their contracts were in-the-money. We calculate in-the-moneyness with respect to GMIBs consistent with net amount at risk as discussed in Note 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, by comparing the contractholders’ income benefits based on total contract account values and current annuity rates versus the guaranteed income benefits. For those contracts with GMIB, the table below presents details of contracts that are in-the-money and out-of-the money at December 31, 2013:
Our insurance subsidiaries have statutory surplus well above levels to meet current regulatory requirements.
Excludes $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, of long-term debt relating to CSEs - FVO (see Note 8 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements). For more information regarding long-term debt, see Note 12 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
MetLife, Inc. and several of its subsidiaries (each, an “Obligor”) are parties to various capital support commitments, guarantees and contingent reinsurance agreements with certain subsidiaries of MetLife, Inc. Under these arrangements, each Obligor, with respect to the applicable entity, has agreed to cause such entity to meet specified capital and surplus levels, has guaranteed certain contractual obligations or has agreed to provide, upon the occurrence of certain contingencies, reinsurance for such entity's insurance liabilities. We anticipate that in the event that these arrangements place demands upon us, there will be sufficient liquidity and capital to enable us to meet anticipated demands. See “- MetLife, Inc. - Liquidity and Capital Uses - Support Agreements.”
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends excludes: (i) changes in the policyholder dividend obligation related to net investment gains (losses) and net derivative gains (losses), (ii) inflation-indexed benefit adjustments associated with contracts backed by inflation-indexed investments and amounts associated with periodic crediting rate adjustments based on the total return of a contractually referenced pool of assets and other pass through adjustments (iii) benefits and hedging costs related to GMIBs (“GMIB Costs”), and (iv) market value adjustments associated with surrenders or terminations of contracts (“Market Value Adjustments”);
See “- Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs, Value of Business Acquired and Other Policy-Related Intangibles” for a discussion of negative value of business acquired.
Operating earnings also excludes the recognition of certain contingent assets and liabilities that could not be recognized at acquisition or adjusted for during the measurement period under GAAP business combination accounting guidance.
On November 1, 2011, the Company sold its wholly-owned subsidiary, MetLife Taiwan Insurance Company Limited (“MetLife Taiwan”) for $180 million in cash consideration. The net assets sold were $282 million, resulting in a loss on disposal of $64 million, net of income tax, recorded in discontinued operations, for the year ended December 31, 2011. Income (loss) from the operations of MetLife Taiwan of $20 million, net of income tax, for the year ended December 31, 2011, was also recorded in discontinued operations. See “- Discontinued Operations” below.
On March 4, 2010, American Life entered into a closing agreement (the “Closing Agreement”) with the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) with respect to a U.S. withholding tax issue arising as a result of payments made by its foreign branches. The Closing Agreement provides that American Life’s foreign branches will not be required to withhold U.S. income tax on the income portion of payments made pursuant to American Life’s life insurance and annuity contracts (“Covered Payments”) for any tax periods beginning on January 1, 2005 and ending on December 31, 2013 (the “Deferral Period”). The Closing Agreement required that American Life submit a plan to the IRS within 90 days after the close of the ALICO Acquisition, indicating the steps American Life would take (on a country by country basis) to ensure that no substantial amount of U.S. withholding tax will arise from Covered Payments made by American Life’s foreign branches to foreign customers after the Deferral Period. Such plan, which was submitted to the IRS on January 29, 2011, involves the transfer of businesses from certain of the foreign branches of American Life to one or more existing or newly-formed subsidiaries of MetLife, Inc. or American Life. See Note 19 for additional information regarding the valuation allowance related to branch restructuring.
The Company issues fixed and floating rate funding agreements, which are denominated in either U.S. dollars or foreign currencies, to certain special purpose entities (“SPEs”) that have issued either debt securities or commercial paper for which payment of interest and principal is secured by such funding agreements. During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, the Company issued $37.7 billion, $35.1 billion and $39.9 billion, respectively, and repaid $36.8 billion, $31.1 billion and $41.6 billion, respectively, of such funding agreements. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, liabilities for funding agreements outstanding, which are included in PABs, were $31.2 billion and $30.0 billion, respectively.
The cost or amortized cost of fixed maturity and equity securities is adjusted for OTTI in the period in which the determination is made. The Company does not change the revised cost basis for subsequent recoveries in value.
Changes in estimated fair value related to economic hedges of equity method investments in joint ventures; changes in estimated fair value related to derivatives held in relation to trading portfolios; and changes in estimated fair value related to derivatives held within contractholder-directed unit-linked investments.
Securities collateral received by the Company is held in separate custodial accounts and is not recorded on the consolidated balance sheets. Subject to certain constraints, the Company is permitted by contract to sell or repledge this collateral, but at December 31, 2013 none of the collateral had been sold or repledged. Securities collateral pledged by the Company is reported in fixed maturity securities in the consolidated balance sheets. Subject to certain constraints, the counterparties are permitted by contract to sell or repledge this collateral. The amount of securities collateral offset in the table above is limited to the net estimated fair value of derivatives after application of netting agreements and cash collateral. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company received excess securities collateral with an estimated fair value of $238 million and $161 million, respectively, for its OTC-bilateral derivatives which are not included in the table above due to the foregoing limitation. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company provided excess securities collateral with an estimated fair value of $66 million and $0, respectively, for its OTC-bilateral derivatives, $141 million and $0, respectively, for its OTC-cleared derivatives, and $81 million and $40 million, respectively, for its exchange-traded derivatives, which are not included in the table above due to the foregoing limitation.
The Company reviews its valuation methodologies on an ongoing basis and revises those methodologies when necessary based on changing market conditions. Assurance is gained on the overall reasonableness and consistent application of input assumptions, valuation methodologies and compliance with fair value accounting standards through controls designed to ensure valuations represent an exit price. Several controls are utilized, including certain monthly controls, which include, but are not limited to, analysis of portfolio returns to corresponding benchmark returns, comparing a sample of executed prices of securities sold to the fair value estimates, comparing fair value estimates to management’s knowledge of the current market, reviewing the bid/ask spreads to assess activity, comparing prices from multiple independent pricing services and ongoing due diligence to confirm that independent pricing services use market-based parameters. The process includes a determination of the observability of inputs used in estimated fair values received from independent pricing services or brokers by assessing whether these inputs can be corroborated by observable market data. The Company ensures that prices received from independent brokers, also referred to herein as “consensus pricing,” represent a reasonable estimate of fair value by considering such pricing relative to the Company’s knowledge of the current market dynamics and current pricing for similar financial instruments. While independent non-binding broker quotations are utilized, they are not used for a significant portion of the portfolio. For example, fixed maturity securities priced using independent non-binding broker quotations represent less than 1% of the total estimated fair value of fixed maturity securities and 13% of the total estimated fair value of Level 3 fixed maturity securities.
This level includes securities priced principally by independent pricing services using observable inputs. FVO and trading securities, short-term investments and other investments within this level are of a similar nature and class to the Level 2 fixed maturity securities and equity securities. Contractholder-directed unit-linked investments reported within FVO and trading securities include mutual fund interests without readily determinable fair values given prices are not published publicly. Valuation of these mutual funds is based upon quoted prices or reported NAV provided by the fund managers, which were based on observable inputs.
Under Delaware State Insurance Law, each of American Life, DelAm and MTL is permitted, without prior insurance regulatory clearance, to pay a stockholder dividend to MetLife, Inc. as long as the amount of the dividend, when aggregated with all other dividends in the preceding 12 months, does not exceed the greater of: (i) 10% of its surplus to policyholders as of the end of the immediately preceding calendar year; or (ii) its net statutory gain from operations for the immediately preceding calendar year (excluding realized capital gains). Each of American Life, DelAm and MTL will be permitted to pay a dividend to MetLife, Inc. in excess of the greater of such two amounts only if it files notice of the declaration of such a dividend and the amount thereof with the Delaware Commissioner and the Delaware Commissioner either approves the distribution of the dividend or does not disapprove the distribution within 30 days of its filing. In addition, any dividend that exceeds earned surplus (defined as “unassigned funds (surplus)”) as of the immediately preceding calendar year requires insurance regulatory approval. Under Delaware State Insurance Law, the Delaware Commissioner has broad discretion in determining whether the financial condition of a stock life insurance company would support the payment of such dividends to its stockholders.
“Dividend Stopper” Provisions in the Preferred Stock and Junior Subordinated Debentures. Certain terms of MetLife, Inc.’s preferred stock and junior subordinated debentures (sometimes referred to as “dividend stoppers”) may prevent it from repurchasing its common or preferred stock or paying dividends on its common or preferred stock in certain circumstances. Under the preferred stock, if, for any reason, including due to a determination by the MetLife, Inc. Board of Directors, MetLife, Inc. has not paid the full dividends on its preferred stock for a dividend period (i.e., the period from and including a preferred stock dividend payment date to, but excluding the next preferred stock dividend payment date), it may not repurchase or pay dividends on its common stock for that period. Under the junior subordinated debentures, if MetLife, Inc. has not paid in full the accrued interest on its junior subordinated debentures through the most recent interest payment date, it may not repurchase or pay dividends on its common stock or other capital stock (including the preferred stock), subject to certain exceptions. The junior subordinated debentures provide that MetLife may, at its option and provided that certain conditions are met, defer payment of interest without giving rise to an event of default for periods of up to 10 years (although after five years MetLife, Inc. would be obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to sell equity securities to raise proceeds to pay the interest), with no limitation on the number of deferral periods that MetLife, Inc. may begin, so long as all accrued and unpaid interest is paid with respect to prior deferral periods. If MetLife, Inc. were to elect to defer payments of interest, the “dividend stopper” provisions in the junior subordinated debentures would thus prevent MetLife, Inc. from repurchasing or paying dividends on its common stock or other capital stock (including the preferred stock) during the period of deferral, subject to exceptions.
The weighted average expected rate of return on plan assets for use in that plan’s valuation in 2014 is currently anticipated to be 6.24% for U.S. pension benefits and 5.64% for U.S. other postretirement benefits. The weighted average expected rate of return on plan assets for use in that plan’s valuation in 2014 is currently anticipated to be 3.01% for non-U.S. pension benefits and 7.25% for non-U.S. other postretirement benefits.
On April 13, 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) entered into a consent order with MetLife Bank (the “OCC consent order”). The OCC consent order required an independent review of foreclosure practices and set forth new residential mortgage servicing standards. In February 2013, MetLife Bank entered into an agreement with the OCC to amend the OCC consent order, and paid approximately $46 million to settle its obligations and end the foreclosure review. In addition, the Federal Reserve Board entered into a consent order with MetLife, Inc. in 2011 (the “Federal Reserve Board consent order”), to enhance its supervision of the mortgage servicing activities of MetLife Bank. On August 6, 2012, the Federal Reserve Board and MetLife, Inc. entered into an Order of Assessment of a Civil Monetary Penalty Issued Upon Consent that imposes a penalty of up to $3.2 million for the alleged deficiencies in MetLife, Inc.’s oversight of MetLife Bank’s servicing of residential mortgage loans and processing foreclosures that were the subject of the Federal Reserve Board consent order.
Total minimum rentals to be received in the future under non-cancelable subleases are $139 million as of December 31, 2013.
The Company commits to lend funds under mortgage loan commitments. The amounts of these mortgage loan commitments were $3.4 billion and $3.0 billion at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
On February 14, 2014, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, MetLife Assurance Limited. The Company expects to record a charge of between $350 million and $390 million, net of income tax, reflecting the estimated loss on sale, in the first quarter of 2014. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other closing conditions.