MetLife Investment Management (MIM), the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc., has announced that Chris Aiken has been appointed head of Real Estate Equity Strategies, effective immediately. He will report to Andrea Drasites, global head of Real Estate and Agricultural Finance.
“Chris is an integral part of our real estate platform and has consistently demonstrated strong leadership skills, deep market expertise and a commitment to delivering value for our clients,” said Brian Funk, president of MIM. “His experience across acquisitions, development and portfolio strategy, combined with his collaborative style, positions him well to lead our Real Estate Equity Strategies business as we continue to advance the platform.”
As head of Real Estate Equity Strategies, Aiken will lead MIM’s direct property investment platform and oversee investing activities on behalf of MetLife’s general account and third-party institutional investors across core, core-plus, build-to-core, value-add and opportunistic strategies.
MIM’s real estate portfolio represented $106.2 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026.1 The announcement follows the appointment of Andrea Drasites as global head of Real Estate and Agricultural Finance, reflecting the firm’s continued investment in its real estate capabilities and leadership team as it expands its global platform.
Prior to assuming this role, Aiken served as head of Acquisitions for MIM’s Real Estate Equity Strategies Group. Before joining MIM, he was a Managing Director at Safanad, where he led all aspects of the investment lifecycle across multiple real estate strategies. He also held real estate investment roles at BlackRock and Salomon Smith Barney.
Aiken earned an M.S. in Real Estate Finance from New York University and a B.A. in Business Administration from Morehouse College. He is a member and co-chair of the Membership Committee for the Real Estate Executive Council and a member of the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Development Mixed-Use Council.
