MetLife may consider acquisitions that cost about $2 billion to $3 billion, Kandarian said. Regulators who blocked buybacks and dividends haven't told the company it can't pursue deals, he added.

"If we're able to pick up a property in Southeast Asia at a price that makes sense to us, that can be accretive in a relatively short period of time, we'll certainly do that," Kandarian said.

MetLife compares deals against buybacks, so the share price "is not a positive" as the company evaluates possible acquisitions, he said.

"I don't think the market really fully takes into account our presence, MetLife's presence, in emerging markets," Kandarian said. "This is a market that's growing rapidly."

MetLife purchased American Life Insurance Co. from bailed- out American International Group Inc. in 2010 to expand beyond the U.S. The unit had about 12,500 employees and operations in more than 50 countries at the time.

'More Complex'

Kandarian, promoted to CEO last year after serving as chief investment officer, worked on a previous review that found about $700 million in annual savings as the company cut jobs.

"We worked hard back in 2008 on streamlining things," Kandarian said in February. "We now have Alico, which makes more complex something we just simplified."

MetLife grew in Japan, Australia and the U.K. with the $11.7 billion purchase of Travelers Life & Annuity from Citigroup Inc. in 2005. The company bought Mexico's biggest life insurer, Aseguradora Hidalgo SA, for about $962 million in 2002, and entered the Brazil dental market with a 2008 acquisition. MetLife said in December that revenue from emerging markets will grow by about 20 percent a year through 2015.

Regulatory Review

Kandarian declined to give an update on efforts to escape federal oversight by getting rid of bank assets, including the planned sale of deposits to General Electric Co. The insurer has until mid-June to submit a revised Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review plan to the Federal Reserve, he said.

Last month he said he couldn't restate a previous projection that the insurer would jettison its bank status by June 30.