Kuykendall quotes Steven Kandarian, MetLife’s CIO:
Mr. Kandarian said MetLife identified the risk from subprime loans early
and stopped buying subprime mortgage-backed securities rated single-A and
below in late 2004.
Note that MetLife’s fund managers aren’t the kind of people who get huge bonuses
for outperforming by a few basis points in a quarter, or who get fired if they
don’t. They’re real-money, long-term investors who buy and hold securities they’ve
looked closely at and believe in. Here endeth the lesson.