New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. NYLIC has about $593 billion in total assets under management, and more than $25 billion in surplus and AVR. In 2019, NYLIC achieved the best possible ratings by the four independent rating companies (Standard & Poor's, AM Best, Moody's and Fitch). Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...

History

Early history

New York Life Insurance Company first opened in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

as ''Nautilus Mutual Life'' in 1841, 10 years after the first life insurance charter was granted in the United States. Originally chartered in 1841, the company also sold

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...

and

marine insurance Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...

. The company's first president, James De Peyster Ogden, was appointed in 1845. Nautilus renamed itself New York Life Insurance Company in 1845 to concentrate on its life insurance business. In its early years (1846–1848) the company, along with other insurance companies of the day including

Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

and US Life, insured the lives of slaves for their owners. By 1847 these accounted for onethird of New York Life's policies. The board of trustees voted to end the sale of insurance policies on slaves in 1848. The company also sold policies to soldiers and civilians involved in combat during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

and paid claims under a flag of truce during that time. In the late 1800s, the company began employing female agents. New York Life continued to grow throughout its first 100 years as the national population and the market for life insurance increased. New York Life's growth was in part fueled by its introduction of a system by which the company used agents to find new business. In 1892, company President John A. McCall introduced the branch office system: offices that served as liaisons between New York and field agents. In 1894, the company became the first US-based insurance provider to offer life insurance to women at the same cost as men; social reformer

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

was one of the company's first female policyholders. In 1896, New York Life became the first company to insure people with disabilities or in hazardous occupations.

20th century

The New York Life Building at 51 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, designed by American architect

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...

, opened in December 1928. The company moved into the 34-story skyscraper in 1929. Later that year, New York Life's assets survived the

stock market crash A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often foll ...

; state regulation and company investing policy had led New York Life to invest in government bonds and real estate, not common stocks. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, New York Life further diversified; it invested in

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

in the late 1940s and launched a mortgage-loan program for

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

in 1946. In 1957, New York Life hired one of the industry's first black agents, Cirilo McSween. In the 1970s, New York Life began selling annuities and mutual funds. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, as other mutual life insurance companies became publicly traded corporations, New York Life remained a mutual company. New York Life entered the Mexican market in 1999 when it acquired Seguros Monterrey from

Recent history

New York Life, along with other insurance companies, relaxed the claims process for missing persons in the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. Fearful of the stability of the market during the two years prior to the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, New York Life moved its cash into other investments such as treasury bonds. In the ensuing financial crisis, New York Life Insurance Company rejected assistance from the

U.S. Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

. Following the 2013 acquisition of Dexia Asset Management, later renamed Candriam Investors Group, New York Life Investments became one of the largest asset managers worldwide, with access to markets in Europe, Asia and Australia, in addition to the United States. In November 2021, the company announced that company president Craig DeSanto was replacing CEO Ted Mathas, The transition was finalized in April 2022, and Mathas stayed with the company as a non-executive chairman.

Operations

As of 2016, New York Life Insurance Company was the country's third-largest life insurance company. A mutual insurance company, New York Life is owned by its policyholders and has no outside shareholders. As a mutual, New York Life distributes a portion of its earnings to eligible policyholders as annual dividends. As of 2016, the company has paid a dividend every year since 1854. Through Seguros Monterrey New York Life, the company offers insurance in Mexico. New York Life's core product is whole life insurance, a type of life insurance offering lifelong protection that builds cash value over time. New York Life also sells term life insurance, universal life insurance,

variable universal life insurance Variable universal life insurance (often shortened to VUL) is a type of life insurance that builds a cash value. In a VUL, the cash value can be invested in a wide variety of separate accounts, similar to mutual funds, and the choice of which of ...

long-term care insurance Long-term care insurance (LTC or LTCI) is an insurance product, sold in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada that helps pay for the costs associated with long-term care. Long-term care insurance covers care generally not covered by health ...

and

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, m ...

. The company operates New York Life Direct, selling direct-to-consumer policies, and is the exclusive life insurance partner of the AARP. NY Life Bldg St-Gaudens Eagle Kansas City MO

NY Life Bldg St-Gaudens Eagle Kansas City MO

Asset management businesses

New York Life Investments is a subsidiary global asset management business which serves both

institutional Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

clients. It ranks No. 26 by total worldwide institutional assets under management, according to ''Pensions & Investments Largest Money Managers Survey 2017. The group manages money through independent investment boutiques. These boutiques include: *Ausbil, an Australian investment boutique specializing in equities * Candriam Investors Group, which focuses on high yield, absolute return, emerging debt, sustainable investments and asset allocation strategies *Credit Value Partners, which specializes in opportunistic, distressed debt and high-yield corporate credit *GoldPoint Partners, a private equity firm *IndexIQ, which specializes in exchange-traded funds and alternative investment strategies *MacKay Shields, an asset management firm that focuses on income generation and offers capital growth through mutual and hedge funds *Madison Capital Funding, which provides financing to private equity firms *Private Advisors, an asset manager specializing in hedge funds and private equity funds

Charitable efforts

New York Life Foundation is the insurance company's philanthropic arm. Its areas of focus include childhood bereavement. New York Life Foundation first became involved in childhood bereavement programs when it supported the Comfort Zone Camp in 2007. Its partners and programs include the National Alliance of Grieving Children, Grief Reach, Coalition to Support Grieving Students, Camp Erin/Moyer Foundation, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and

Boys and Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, h ...

. It sponsored the HBO documentary ''One Last Hug''. The company also emphasizes giving to various cultural communities, including the African-American community. The company also funded a $10 million endowment to the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies at the City College of New York called the New York Life Endowment for Emerging African-American Issues in 2006.

Ratings and rankings

In June 2018, New York Life ranks No. 69 on the Fortune 500. In 2017 '' Fortune'' named New York Life among its Most Admired Companies in the life insurance industry. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' ranked New York Life #364 among America's Best Employers for 2017.New York Life
''

'' As of 2019, New york Life ranks No. 71 on the Fortune 500. By the end of 2019, New York Life had earned the highest financial strength ratings from major four rating agencies: A++ from A.M.Best, AAA from Fitch Ratings, Aaa from Moody and AA+ from Standard & Poor's.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Insurance companies based in New York City Mutual insurance companies of the United States Financial services companies established in 1845 1845 establishments in New York (state)