Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

Origin

The company was formed in 2017 from foundations created by Travelers, which began selling life insurance in 1923 and annuities in 1938, and MetLife, which acquired New England Life Insurance Company (NELICO) in 1996 and annuity company Security First Group, Inc in 1997. In 2005, MetLife acquired Travelers Life.

Separation from MetLife

In January 2016, MetLife, Inc. announced it intended to separate a substantial portion of its U.S. retail segment of life insurance and annuities. The entities marked for separation into the new enterprise included: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company (formerly MetLife Insurance Company USA), Brighthouse Life Insurance Company of NY (formerly First MetLife Investors Insurance Company) and New England Life Insurance Company. On July 21, 2016, MetLife announced it would rebrand the business as Brighthouse Financial and on March 6, 2017, the company began selling annuity and life insurance under the Brighthouse Financial brand.

On August 4, 2017, Brighthouse Financial completed its separation from MetLife. The company began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange on August 7, 2017, under the symbol "BHF". Upon completion of the separation, MetLife retained a 19.2% stake in the company. In 2018, MetLife divested its remaining interest through a debt-for-equity exchange with four financial institutions that owned MetLife debt. During 2018 Brighthouse Financial reported profits of more than $1.4 billion but paid an effective federal tax rate of 0% or less as a result of Donald Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Acquisition

In November 2025, New York-based private equity firm, Aquarian Holdings, agreed to acquired the company for $4.1 billion in an all-cash deal.