The numbers behind NML’s latest record year
A third, consecutive record-breaking year underscores Northwestern Mutual’s strong financial footing as it prepares for a year-end leadership change.
CEO John Schlifske will retire after 14 years of leading the Milwaukee-based insurance and financial management company through recession, the coronavirus pandemic and a recommitment to downtown Milwaukee that included a 32-story office building in 2017, and ongoing work to renovate a nearby office building to match its style and eventually house about 2,000 people who will move there from the company’s Franklin offices.
Tim Gerend, Northwestern Mutual’s president, will become CEO Jan. 1, 2025.
Northwestern Mutual started in Janesville in 1857 as the Mutual Life Insurance Company of the State of Wisconsin. Seeking a bigger market, founder John C. Johnson moved the company from Janesville to Milwaukee in 1859. A decade later the renamed Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. was the nation’s ninth largest insurance company and on a growth trajectory that now places it 111th on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
As Northwestern Mutual enters its 167th year, here’s a by-the-numbers look at the company and its record-setting year.
$36 billion in revenue in 2023
In its third-straight record setting year, Northwestern Mutual reported more than $36 billion in revenue, an increase from $35 billion in 2022. The increase includes an 8% increase in permanent life insurance premium sales, a 10% increase in investment sales and increased investment revenue due to high interest rates.
Policyholders will get a $7.3 billion payback
The word mutual in the company’s name refers to its collective ownership by its policy holders. In a mutual insurance company, the policy holders are the sole beneficiaries of the annual dividend. This year the company expects to pay $7.3 billion in dividends, $550 million more than it paid in 2023.
Dividends can be used to increase the cash value or death benefit of a life insurance policy, to reduce premium payments or taken as a cash distribution.
The company has paid annual dividends for more than 150 consecutive years.
$38 billion in surplus is a reflection of strength, stability
The company’s surplus is the funds it holds above and beyond the $242 billion it has in reserves to honor its insurance commitments. Company officials say the reserves are an assurance for policyholders of the company’s strength and reliability. It also contributes an Aaa rating from Moody’s Investors Service and top ratings from S&P Global, A.M. Best and Fitch.
Northwestern Mutual supports more than 17,000 jobs nationwide
The majority of the company’s approximately 8,367 employees work in the Milwaukee area. That includes about 4,500 workers in downtown Milwaukee and about 2,000 who work out of the Franklin office. Northwestern Mutual also has a corporate office in New York City and field offices across the country.
The company’s field force of financial advisors and representatives grew in 2023 to a record 8,000 people.
More than 5 million clients
The company topped the 5 million mark across its five product lines: life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities and wealth management.
$627 billion in assets under management
That’s 12.4% more than a year ago. The total includes the company’s investments and separate account assets as well as $281 billion managed for Northwestern Mutual’s retail investment clients.
$2.3 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force
For comparison, that’s equal to about one-third of the 2023 federal budget or the equivalent of all of the U.S. currency in circulation.