MetLife's main business is writing life and health insurance, where it competes with other industry giants such as Prudential (NYSE:PRU), Torchmark (NYSE:TMK), and Allianz (NYSE:AZ). Lately, life insurers have been facing headwinds from a difficult interest rate environment and tough competition on pricing. However, MetLife's institutional business fought through and was able to post a solid 9% increase in after-tax operating earnings compared to last year's first quarter, thanks to favorable claims development and the ability to maintain healthy spreads on its investments.