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.
![Northwestern Mutual headquarters](https://assets.biztimes.com/uploads/2019/05/Northwestern-Mutual-2-e1446047578237-300x218.jpg)
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.