Company Distinctions

We are a company with many distinctions. Here are just a few:

Corporate Distinctions

• We are the only life insurance company among the Top 50 All-Stars in FORTUNE® magazine’s 2009 World’s Most Admired Survey.¹
   
• Northwestern Mutual has a persistency rate of 96% for life insurance in-force, a key indicator of customer satisfaction.
   
• We have earned the best possible insurance financial strength ratings in the life insurance industry from the four major rating agencies.²
   
• We are the nation's largest direct provider of individual life insurance.³
   
• We have paid more in total individual life insurance dividends to policyowners than any other company in the industry for the last 13 years.⁴
   
• We are ranked among the Top 10 independent broker-dealers, as measured by total revenues, by the leading investment industry publications:
   
• Investment News, April 2008
   
• Financial Advisor magazine,  June 2008
   
• Financial Planning magazine, June 2008
   
• Investment Advisor magazine, June 2008.



• We lead the industry in customer satisfaction.⁵

¹ Fortune Magazine, March 16, 2009
² Northwestern Mutual's ratings: Moody's Aaa, 4/2009; Standard & Poor's AAA, 6/2009; Fitch Ratings AAA, 6/2009; and A.M. Best Company A++, 3/2010. Third party ratings are subject to change.
³ A.M Best Company, 2008, an insurance information source.
⁴ The policy dividend is reviewed annually by the Company's Board of Trustees. Dividends are not guaranteed beyond 2009 and are subject to change.
⁵ American Customer Satisfaction Index, February 16, 2010.

In the News

• Industry-leading Dividend Payout in 2009
  This announcement of our $4.6 billion dividend payout illustrates our long-term value.
  
  
• #1 in U.S. Direct Life Insurance Market-Share
  The financial security company significantly outpaced the industry year-over-year performance.
  
  
• #1 in Customer Satisfaction
  Northwestern Mutual leads the industry with the highest customer satisfaction score among U.S. life insurers.

Top Careers

• Northwestern Mutual Named a Best Internship for 2009
  Bloomberg BusinessWeek's list of the Best Internships ranks Northwestern Mutual’s financial representative internship program 1st in the insurance industry and 23rd overall.
   
• BusinessWeek: 50 Best Places to Launch a Career
  Northwestern Mutual was named as one of the 50 best places to launch a career in 2009. BusinessWeek highlighted the Network in its September 2009 feature issue.
   
• Glassdoor: Best Place to Work in America
  Northwestern Mutual is the “Best Place to Work” in the insurance industry in 2010 and is the 11th-best place to work in America overall, according to survey results from Glassdoor.com.
   
• Northwestern Mutual Named One of the Best Places to Work in IT
  The financial security company ranks 39th overall and first in Wisconsin.
   
• CNNMoney.com: Five Best Internships for Real Work
  The Northwestern Mutual Financial Network was named one of the five best internships for students to get real work experience. The July 2006 feature story also named Microsoft, Deloitte & Touche, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to the list.
   
• Vault, Inc.: Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Named “Top Ten Internship in America”
  The financial representative internship program has been recognized as a “Top Ten Internship in America” for the 13th consecutive year. Vault, Inc. created a video profile on Northwestern Mutual’s financial representative internship program on YouTube.

What Mutuality Means to You

Being a mutual company starts with doing the right thing. We focus on clients' long-term needs and best interests. Being a mutual also enables us to succeed and to preserve our considerable financial strength. These are our mutual differences:

How We Operate

Clients Come First
Mutual companies focus on serving their policyowners. Publicly traded stock companies typically split their focus between customers and shareholders. Whether you’re buying insurance or investing in your future, the principles of mutuality guide the way we help you.

Dividends* Are a Real Value
Northwestern Mutual is like a cooperative. After setting aside a safe margin for reserves and surplus each year, the company returns what would otherwise be “profits” to its participating policyowners as dividends. We expect to pay more than $4.7 billion in dividends to policyowners in 2010 — and lead the industry in total individual life insurance dividends paid. 

Loyalty to All Clients
Some companies try to attract new policyowners by offering special benefits only to them. We do not. As policy benefits are added, we have traditionally extended the same benefits to our current clients.

Maximizing Value With a Long-Term Investment Strategy
Because we have no shareholders, we can take a longer-term investment approach in our general account investment portfolio. Over time, this strategy has produced higher returns in our portfolio and greater policyowner value.
 
We Use the Same Approach in Guiding Our Clients’ Investments.
Our investment products and services philosophy also employs a long-term focus. We want our clients to benefit from fundamentals, discipline, a long-term outlook and prudent risk management.
 
Carefully Managing Expenses
Vigorous cost management has long been a hallmark of our company — and a key advantage in the marketplace. Expenses on our principal product line have been consistently about one-third lower than the industry average. These savings can contribute to dividends.*

Excellent Customer Satisfaction
Northwestern Mutual has a persistency rate of 96.1% for life insurance in-force, a key indicator of customer satisfaction. Because clients keep their policies, their steadily paid premiums give us a cash flow for our investments, which can contribute to dividends.* It’s mutuality at work.

About Quality and Value
In short, our goal is to be simply the best in quality and value. We aim to —

• Offer superior products
• Avoid gimmicks and fads
• Upgrade our policies in the scope of their coverage to provide better benefits at lower costs

We have practiced four mutual values since our inception:

1. Doing the right thing for policyowners and other clients.
2. Building long-term relationships to meet client needs.
3. Building and preserving financial strength.
4. Offering world-class products and expert guidance that address changing needs over a lifetime.

Download Our Mutual Advantage

*The policy dividend is reviewed annually by the Company's Board of Trustees. Dividends are not guaranteed beyond 2010 and are subject to change.

The Origins of Doing the Right Thing

The frontier state of Wisconsin was only nine years old when the company opened its doors. Fewer than three years later, its leader faced a crisis when Wisconsin’s first catastrophic train accident took the lives of two policyowners. Together their claims totaled $3,500, but the little company had only $2,000 on hand.
 
Without hesitation, President Samuel Daggett and his fellow trustees waived the usual 90-day settlement period, personally borrowed the needed funds, and paid the claims immediately.

Northwestern Mutual’s tradition of keeping its promises was born.

Even during the dark days of the Great Depression, “there was never a time…that the Northwestern could not have met every demand that was made upon it with business promptness, in full, and without the sacrifice of a dollar of its securities,” said Michael Cleary, company president, 1932-1947.

During the tragic events of September 11, 2001, 157 Northwestern Mutual policyowners lost their lives. Not since the Titanic sank in 1912 have so many policyowners’ lives been lost in a single event. A team of senior claim specialists, accompanied by CEO Ed Zore, flew to New York as soon as air travel resumed. In the home office, colleagues canceled vacations and worked the weekend to process $125 million in claims. Most were paid within five days after we received the claim.
 
While technology, transportation, demographics, regulations, and the speed of business — indeed the speed of life — have changed and accelerated since 1857, two things remain constant. People want to provide financial security for their loved ones. Financial strength is the cornerstone of any company designed to help them do that.
 
Over the years, Northwestern Mutual has continually demonstrated its commitment to doing the right thing for those who place their trust in the company. We remain true to a governing philosophy that puts mutuality and fairness first.
  
To ensure that the company stays in tune with its clients, each year since 1875, a group of our policyowners has been invited to examine the workings of the company and to complete a report which is published — unedited — in the company’s annual report.