Brighthouse Financial (BHF) Investor Presentation - Slideshow

The following slide deck was published by Brighthouse Financial, Inc. in conjunction with this event.

Comments

[Queen Anne Investor]

I see a company that lost $6.76 a share last year. They increased their debt to $4.3B from $3.9B. Also issued preferred stock. They bought back shares at much higher prices than current market price which raised their book value. This is because their book value is much higher than their market price. They have no plans to distribute dividends. Their hedging activities and financial structure is much too complicated for the average professional investor to grasp - let alone the retail investor. I doubt many here truly understand (myself included of course) how a drop in equity prices or change in interest rates will affect them. Insiders also do not have significant ownership. I think retiring debt or not raising additional money through preferred stock issuance would have been a much better use of capital than share buybacks. I have great respect for Einhorn but I don't get his attraction to this company that is very sensitive to a recession. What will happen when/if the Dow drops to 15,000? Most stocks will drop but I think BHF is more vulnerable than many others.
Investors who want to invest in a Life insurance company would be FAR better off and safer investing in NWLI, a company with zero debt and far more conservative finances. The float is much smaller so maybe Einhorn can't invest in NWLI but most retail investors will have no problem in accumulating a significant position. When one puts the two companies side by side, one can see the same upside potential without the nasty downside that BHF exposes investors to.

[John Reswob]

I

The recent dramatic decrease in interest rates is driving down BHF share price as it must be able to support its annuity payment commitments. Hopefully they saw it coming and hedged accordingly.

[Lari Lampen]

This presentation was given on March 5th. Their "shock" scenario has the 10-year Treasury yield falling to 1%, even though it closed below that level on the day before the presentation. I understand the slides have been prepared well before that date, but nevertheless this doesn't speak highly of their ability to see such changes coming.

Who knows, maybe they'll eventually have to rename their shock scenario "moderately optimistic".

[Lovelife]

I think the company should do a Dutch auction to take advantage of this level. Buy 5% for under 200musd

[PurpleAlligator]

Is the high volatility we’re seeing now going to increase hedging costs?