497K 1 d497k.htm EATON VANCE FLOATING RATE PORTFOLIO Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio

MET INVESTORS

SERIES    TRUST

   SUMMARY PROSPECTUS    May 1, 2010

 

Met/Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio

Class A and Class B Shares

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Portfolio’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Portfolio and its risks. You can find the Portfolio’s Prospectus and other information about the Portfolio (including the documents listed below) online at www.metlife.com/variablefunds. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-638-7732 or by sending an e-mail request to RCG@metlife.com. The Portfolio’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated May 1, 2010, are both incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. This Summary Prospectus is intended for individuals who have purchased certain variable life insurance policies and variable annuity contracts (collectively, “Contracts”) from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and its affiliates and is not intended for other investors.

 

Investment Objective

 

A high level of current income.

 

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

 

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. These fees and expenses are estimated for the year ended December 31, 2010, and are expressed as a percentage of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets over that period. The table and the Example below do not reflect the fees, expenses or withdrawal charges imposed by the Contracts. If Contract expenses were reflected, the fees and expenses in the table and Example would be higher. See the Contract prospectus for a description of those fees, expenses and charges.

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)—None

 

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

     Class A    Class B

Management Fee

   0.61%    0.61%

Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees

   None    0.25%

Other Expenses

   0.16%    0.16%
         

Total Annual Portfolio
Operating Expenses

   0.77%    1.02%

 

Example

 

The following Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that you reinvest all of your dividends and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

     Class A    Class B

1 Year

   $79    $105

3 Years

   $247    $326

 

Portfolio Turnover

 

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual portfolio operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. The Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate is not expected to exceed 100% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”), subadviser to the Portfolio, invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Portfolio’s total assets in income producing floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities. The Portfolio invests primarily in senior floating rate loans of domestic and foreign borrowers (“Senior Loans”). Senior Loans typically are of below investment grade quality and have below investment grade credit ratings, which ratings are associated with securities having high risk, speculative characteristics.

 

The Portfolio may invest up to 15% of its total assets in foreign Senior Loans and foreign securities and may engage in certain hedging transactions. Foreign Senior Loans must be U.S. dollar denominated or denominated in euros, British pounds, Swiss francs, or Canadian dollars (each such foreign currency, an “Authorized Foreign Currency”). With respect to any investments in foreign Senior Loans denominated in an Authorized Foreign Currency, Eaton Vance intends to hedge against foreign currency fluctuations for such Senior Loans principally through the use of currency exchange contracts as well as other appropriate permitted hedging strategies; however there is no certainty that such strategies will be successful.

 

The Portfolio may also invest in secured and unsecured subordinated loans, second lien loans and subordinated bridge loans (“Junior Loans”), other floating rate debt securities such as notes, bonds and asset-backed securities (such as special purpose trusts investing in bank loans), investment grade fixed income debt obligations and money market instruments, such as commercial paper. Those money market holdings with a remaining maturity of less than 60 days will be deemed floating rate assets.

 


 

Eaton Vance’s portfolio managers monitor the credit quality of the Portfolio’s holdings as well as other investments that are available. In managing the Portfolio, Eaton Vance seeks to invest in a portfolio of loans that it believes will be less volatile over time than the general loan market. Preservation of capital is considered when consistent with the Portfolio’s objective.

 

For more information about the types of investments in which the Portfolio may invest, please see “Investment Strategies and Risks” in the Statement of Additional Information.

 

Primary Risks

 

As with all mutual funds, there is no guarantee that the Portfolio will achieve its investment objective. You could lose money by investing in the Portfolio. An investment in the Portfolio through a Contract is not a deposit or obligation of, or guaranteed by, any bank, and is not federally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. Government.

 

The value of your investment in the Portfolio may be affected by one or more of the following risks, which are described in more detail in “Primary Risks of Investing in the Portfolio” in the Prospectus, any of which could cause the Portfolio’s return, the price of the Portfolio’s shares or the Portfolio’s yield to fluctuate. Please note that there are many other circumstances that could adversely affect your investment and prevent the Portfolio from reaching its objective, which are not described here.

 

Market Risk.    The Portfolio’s share price can fall because of, among other things, a decline in the market as a whole, deterioration in the prospects for a particular industry or company, or changes in general economic conditions, such as prevailing interest rates and investor sentiment. Significant disruptions to the financial markets could adversely affect the liquidity and volatility of securities held by the Portfolio.

 

Interest Rate Risk.    The value of the Portfolio’s investments in fixed income securities may decline when prevailing interest rates rise or increase when interest rates go down. The longer a security’s maturity or duration, the greater its value will change in response to changes in interest rates. The interest earned on the Portfolio’s investments in fixed income securities may decline when prevailing interest rates decline.

 

Credit and Counterparty Risk.    The value of the Portfolio’s investments may be adversely affected if a security’s credit rating is downgraded; an issuer of an investment held by the Portfolio fails to pay an obligation on a timely basis, otherwise defaults or is perceived by other investors to be less creditworthy; or a counterparty to a derivatives or other transaction with the Portfolio files for bankruptcy, becomes insolvent, or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling to honor its obligation to the Portfolio.

 

Bank Loan Risk.    Investments in bank loans expose the Portfolio to interest rate risk and the credit and counterparty risk of the underlying borrowers of those loans. No active trading market may exist for certain loans. Moreover, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of some actively traded loans. The Portfolio may have difficulty valuing and selling bank loans that are illiquid or are less actively traded. Bank loans are also subject to the risk that issuers will prepay the principal more quickly than expected, which could cause the Portfolio to reinvest the repaid principal in investments with lower yields, thereby exposing the Portfolio to a lower rate of return. The Portfolio’s investments in below investment grade loans and other debt securities expose the Portfolio to greater market risk and credit and counterparty risk than a portfolio that invests only in investment grade loans and debt securities. Lower rated securities also may be subject to greater price volatility than higher rated investments.

 

Foreign Investment Risk.    Investments in foreign securities tend to be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities because, among other things, they involve risks relating to political, social and economic developments abroad, as well as risks resulting from differences between the regulations and reporting standards and practices to which U.S. and foreign issuers are subject. To the extent foreign securities are denominated in foreign currencies, their values may be adversely affected by changes in currency exchange rates. All of the risks of investing in foreign securities are typically increased by investing in emerging market countries.

 

Derivatives Risk.    The Portfolio may invest in derivatives to “hedge” or protect its assets from an unfavorable shift in the value or rate of a reference instrument. Derivatives can significantly increase the Portfolio’s exposure to market risk, credit and counterparty risk and other risks. Derivatives may be illiquid and difficult to value. Because of their complex nature, some derivatives may not perform as intended. As a result, the Portfolio may not realize the anticipated benefits from a derivative it holds or it may realize losses.

 

Past Performance

 

As of the date of this Prospectus, the Portfolio had not commenced operations. No performance information is currently available. For information on Eaton Vance’s prior performance with a comparable account, see “Additional Information about Management—The Subadviser” in the Prospectus.

 

Management

 

Adviser.    MetLife Advisers, LLC (“MetLife Advisers”) is the Portfolio’s investment adviser. For more information about the Adviser, please see “Additional Information about Management—The Adviser” in the Prospectus and “Investment Advisory and Other Services—The Adviser” in the Statement of Additional Information.

 

Subadviser.    Eaton Vance is the subadviser to the Portfolio. For more information about the Subadviser, please see “Additional Information about Management—The Subadviser” in the Prospectus and “Investment Advisory and Other Services—The Subadvisers” in the Statement of Additional Information.

 

Met/Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio

 

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Portfolio Managers.     Scott H. Page, CFA, Vice President and Director, Craig P. Russ, Vice President and Portfolio Manager and Andrew N. Sveen, CFA, Vice President, Head Trader and Portfolio Manager, have each managed the Portfolio since inception. For additional information, please see “Additional Information about Management—The Subadviser” in the Prospectus and “Investment Advisory and Other Services—Portfolio Management” in the Statement of Additional Information.

 

Tax Information

 

For information regarding the tax consequences of Contract ownership, please see the prospectus for the relevant Contract.

 

Payments to Insurance Companies and Their Affiliates

 

The Portfolio is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for Contracts issued by insurance companies that are affiliated with the Portfolio and MetLife Advisers. As a result of these affiliations, the insurance companies may benefit more from offering the Portfolio as an investment option in the Contracts than offering other unaffiliated portfolios. The Portfolio and its related companies may also make payments to the sponsoring insurance companies (or their affiliates) for distribution and/or other services. The benefits to the insurance companies of offering the Portfolio over unaffiliated portfolios and these payments may be factors that the insurance companies consider in including the Portfolio as an underlying investment option in the Contracts and may create a conflict of interest. The prospectus for your Contract contains additional information about these payments.

 

Met/Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio

 

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