Fitch rates Brighthouse Financial A-

Fitch Ratings said it assigned an issuer default rating of A- to Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

Fitch also said it expects to assign an issuer default rating of A- to Brighthouse Holdings, LLC, which is currently an intermediate holding company subsidiary of MetLife, Inc., but is expected to ultimately be a direct subsidiary of Brighthouse.

The outlook is stable.

Brighthouse is a holding company recently formed to ultimately house a substantial portion of MetLife's former retail segment, the agency said.

The retail segment would likely be separated through public offering of shares in an independent publicly traded company, a spin-off or a sale, Fitch said.

The ratings reflect the standard notching under the agency’s rating criteria.

Fitch also said it expects Brighthouse to manage consolidated financial leverage between 20% and 25%, interest coverage between 10x and 11x and holding company liquidity at about 18 months of interest and dividend expense.

The issuer default rating also relies heavily on an acceptable form of support, such as a guarantee from MetLife, the agency said.

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