Brighthouse Financial vs MetLife

Verdict

These two companies share a history, and neither is a place to buy a typical individual term policy today. Brighthouse Financial took over most of MetLife's U.S. retail life and annuity business when MetLife spun it off in 2017. MetLife kept the group benefits business and now sells life coverage mainly through employers and associations. Many older individual policies sit with one company or the other, so an owner of a "MetLife" policy may need to confirm which of the two services it.

Brighthouse's new sales center on annuities, especially Shield index-linked annuities, plus a short life list: an index-linked universal life with long-term care benefits (SmartCare), another index-linked universal life policy (SmartGuard Plus), one-year term, and conversion whole life. It stopped selling 10-, 20- and 30-year level term in the first half of 2025. A pending event matters: on November 6, 2025, Brighthouse agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Aquarian Holdings for $70 a share in cash. Shareholders approved the deal on February 12, 2026, and as of its August 2026 quarterly report regulatory approvals in Delaware, New York and Massachusetts were still needed. Rating agencies placed Brighthouse under review after the announcement.

MetLife has no pending sale. Its profile lists A+ (Superior) from AM Best as of February 2026, versus A (Excellent) for Brighthouse as of March 2026. MetLife's individual life, annuity and long-term care policies are reported as run-off business that it no longer actively markets in the U.S. It faces a pending New York False Claims Act suit over unclaimed property reporting, which it disputes and which remains unproven.

Choose Brighthouse Financial if

• You own a former MetLife retail, New England Financial or Travelers policy and need to know who services it.
• You want a Shield index-linked annuity or an index-linked universal life with long-term care benefits through an advisor.
• You need a one-year term or a conversion whole life policy to complete a conversion.
• You accept a pending acquisition by Aquarian and ratings that were placed under review.

Choose MetLife if

• Your employer offers MetLife group life, supplemental or dependent coverage, or group universal life.
• You own an older individual MetLife policy and need service or a claim handled.
• You want a carrier with AA- from S&P and Fitch and Aa3 from Moody's, as listed in its profile.
• You want group coverage you may be able to port or convert if you leave the job.

Key differences

Before you decide

If you are comparing because of an old policy, find the policy's issuing company on your statement and confirm who services it. If you are buying new coverage, how to compare life insurance quotes fairly and AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explained help you line up like-for-like offers and read the rating dates. For employer coverage, is life insurance through work enough? and keeping group life insurance when you leave a job cover what happens when you change jobs, and private equity's push into life insurance explains ownership changes like Aquarian's.