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Northwestern Mutual history
Northwestern Mutual company history timeline
Northwestern Mutual was founded as the Mutual Life Insurance Company of the State of Wisconsin on March 2, 1857.
Following the legislature's revocation of the provision requiring a Janesville headquarters, the trustees voted on March 7, 1859, to move the company to Milwaukee.
Since trustees met quarterly and the officers were part-time, the trustees established an executive committee of five trustees in June 1859, including the president and vice-president as ex officio members.
In 1859, when the first out-of-state contract was made in Minnesota's St Paul-Minneapolis area, the company began to expand beyond Wisconsin.
In 1860, the first out-of-state local agency was appointed, in Iowa.
In 1864, the company paid its first dividends to policy owners.
By 1867, the company had expanded its mortgage holdings beyond Wisconsin, although its principal holdings were still Wisconsin, primarily Milwaukee, real estate.
When Samuel Daggett died in 1868, the company he helped nurture had passed through its formative years.
An association of agents had been created in 1868, but was inactive for several years.
A year later the company hired salaried loan agents, effectively separating the selling of insurance from the lending of funds. It was revived in 1877 and served as a forum unique to the life insurance industry at which field agents discussed problems of mutual interest and maintained communication with the home office.
NML established an inquiry department in 1878 to cope with a problem inherent in insurance sales, "moral hazard," namely, that persons most likely to submit claims would be those most likely to demand policies.
In 1881 NML created the insurance and agency committee with general responsibility for all phases of the insurance program.
In 1887 the finance committee was established to focus exclusively on financial and investment questions.
By 1907, the company's sales agencies were closely integrated with Northwestern's overall management policies.
When Palmer stepped down in 1908, he had established a managerial succession that made George C. Markham the obvious choice.
In 1909, the company took the lead in the new field of business life insurance for partners and for key personnel.
Michael Cleary, vice-president since 1919, moved to improve the company's relations with agents.
1919: NML is the sixth largest life insurance company in the nation and the leading farm mortgage lender among life insurers.
NML led the field in the move toward larger loans, and, after 1925, increased its urban loans.
In 1933, women were accepted as risks for the first time in 58 years, but they were limited to half the insurance a man could purchase.
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Northwestern Mutual competitors
Company Name  | Founded Date | Revenue | Employee Size | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MassMutual | 1851 | $29.6B | 8,000 | 380 |
| MetLife | 1868 | $531.0M | 49,000 | 492 |
| Lincoln Financial Group | 1905 | $66.0B | 9,047 | 1,517 |
| Thrivent | 1902 | $97.0M | 3,708 | 374 |
| Foresters Financial | 1874 | $2.1B | 3,000 | 6 |
| Ameriprise Financial | 1894 | $14.3B | 12,300 | 238 |
| New England Financial | - | $2.5M | 50 | - |
| Morgan Stanley | 1935 | $3.0B | 68,097 | 1,079 |
| Edward Jones | 1922 | $10.2B | 49,000 | 1,553 |
| Prudential Financial | 1875 | $57.0B | 41,671 | 453 |
Northwestern Mutual history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Northwestern Mutual, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Northwestern Mutual. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Northwestern Mutual. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Northwestern Mutual. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Northwestern Mutual and its employees or that of Zippia.
Northwestern Mutual may also be known as or be related to Northwestern Mutual, Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, Northwestern Mutual Life Ins, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.