Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. today announced it will pay out a record $5.6 billion in dividends to its policy holders in 2016.
Most of the payout—about 90 percent—will go to customers with traditional permanent life insurance policies. Dividends on those policies are driven by favorable mortality and expenses, with about one-third coming from interest on investment earnings, Northwestern Mutual said.
Another $340 million will be paid on disability income insurance; $155 million will be paid for those with term life insurance policies; $115 million will go to customers with variable life insurance; and $55 million will be paid out on Northwestern Mutual’s annuity product line.
The company last year paid $5.2 billion in dividends, which was also a record.
“Because we are a mutual company focused on providing policyowners with the best product value, we’re proud to again pay industry-leading dividends on both our life and disability income insurance products,” said John Schlifske, chairman and chief executive officer of Northwestern Mutual. “Sharing our success with policyowners has been a long-standing tradition for Northwestern Mutual.”
The company, which has $230 billion in assets and $27 billion in revenues, has paid out a dividend each year since 1872.
