Northwestern Mutual Sustainability and Impact: Delivering Financial Security
We exist to help people build financial security today and for years to come. As a mutual company, it’s in our DNA.
Originally published in Northwestern Mutual 2024 Sustainability and Impact Report
Helping Americans achieve financial security is at the core of our value proposition.
Every day, our work supports policyowners and clients in growing wealth and protecting what they’ve worked so hard for. We’re dedicated to expanding financial access in underserved communities, reducing the wealth gap, and empowering economic growth by helping to build generational wealth.
- $2.4T of life insurance protection in force1
- $335B of retail investment client assets held or managed by Northwestern Mutual2
- $175M Impact Investment Fund to increase access to capital to businesses that support and improve underserved communities
IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH FINANCIAL SECURITY
According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning & Progress Study,3 the number of Americans feeling personal financial insecurity is on the rise.
This annual study found that among generations closest to retirement, just half of Boomers+ (49%) and Gen X (48%) believe they will be financially prepared for retirement.
We approach financial planning differently. We ask deeper questions and listen closely. We pursue longterm value over short-term gain. And we have access to a range of exclusive solutions designed to deliver better outcomes. Our comprehensive approach considers both risk management and growth because we believe that a financial plan optimized with insurance, investments, and guaranteed income is the best way to help policyowners and clients reach their goals.4
Our products and services
Northwestern Mutual’s products and services offer policyowners and clients a better way to money:TM
- Our comprehensive planning services offer policyowners and clients a wide range of financial options built to reinforce each other, like insurance for protection, investments for growth, and annuities for guaranteed income in retirement.
- Our risk-focused offerings, including permanent life insurance (PLI), term life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance, bolster access to financial resources during unexpected life events, while annuities can provide a guaranteed income that doesn’t change based on market volatility.
- Our range of wealth solutions, including advisory services and brokerage products, help clients grow their assets over time and build financial security.
- Our network of more than 22,000 advisors5 and team members across hundreds of locations in the United States understand the specific needs and circumstances of their communities. Northwestern Mutual advisors garner the trust of our clients by creating comprehensive, personalized plans to help secure their long-term financial futures.
We know that seamless customer service is vital to policyowners and clients. In 2024, we continued our work to remove inefficiencies in our customer service process. Efforts that began in 2023 have led to reduced costs, better service, higher call quality, and improved satisfaction scores. We regularly monitor our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which reflects the trust our clients have in us, earned through the dedication and collaboration of our employees and advisors.
POWERING CHANGE THROUGH RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT
Maximizing long-term value for our policyowners is our first and foremost goal as a mutual company. Our General Account strives to earn superior long-term investment returns while maintaining our unsurpassed financial strength.
General Account investments
Our General Account invests the premiums paid to us by policyowners across a diversified investment portfolio to generate superior risk-adjusted returns over the long term. Prudent investment management enables us to pay claims and benefits, innovate and grow our business, and share our success with policyowners in the form of dividends.
We seek to direct at least 5% of total investment assets toward investments with environmentally and socially responsible features while continuing to focus on our fundamental commitment to superior long term investment returns while maintaining exceptional financial strength. To this end, we invest a portion of General Account assets through our local and national Impact Investment Fund and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, among others. At the end of 2024, these investments totaled more than $26.4 billion, or 8.2% of total invested assets.
Our team evaluates potential investments through the lens of driving superior long-term investment returns while prudently managing risks. We define responsible investments in our General Account through two primary categories:
- Environmentally responsible investments: Supportive of or sensitive to the environment, such as bonds and loans linked to renewable and alternative energy projects, real estate investments that meet nationally recognized sustainable building and occupant wellness standards, and projects that support the lowcarbon transition
- Socioeconomically responsible investments: Promoting projects that increase affordable housing and healthcare access in underdeveloped areas or support businesses with owners from underserved groups
Impact Investment Fund
Our Impact Investment Fund directs capital to businesses that support and improve underserved communities, creating local and national economic benefits. These investments are focused on:
- Building safe and thriving communities
- Reducing the wealth gap and driving financial security
- Encouraging entrepreneurship and start-up growth
The Impact Investment Fund consists of a local Milwaukee allocation as well as a nationally focused allocation, with a total commitment of $175 million. As of 2024, the Fund has supported a total of 97 businesses in underserved communities that created over 1,100 jobs.
MKE Business Expansion Fund
As of 2024, the MKE Business Expansion Fund has invested nearly $3.4 million of capital across the community, supporting 34 local businesses.
One of these businesses, VC414, is a woman-owned venture capital firm that specializes in making investments in high-growth-potential start-ups founded by women and undercapitalized founders. VC414 deployed capital to Pruuvn, an alumnus of Northwestern Mutual’s accelerator program, demonstrating a synergy between our strategies for increasing access and opportunity for entrepreneurs who might otherwise be overlooked.
We also committed a total of $5 million with two community development financial institutions (CDFIs), Northwest Side CDC and Legacy Redevelopment Corporation, in 2024. CDFIs offer many types of financing, including microfinancing, and our investment facilitates increased access to financial resources. Three local businesses received financing as a result of these CDFI investments in 2024.
The MKE Business Expansion Fund has a real impact on individuals in our community. We invested in the Milwaukee Community Land Trust to support two meaningful projects in 2024:
- Rehabilitating homes in the Milwaukee area to serve as permanent residences for low- income families
- Partnering with SecureFutures to educate local high schoolers on the impact of homeownership and the importance of building credit, saving money, and planning for the future
National Impact Fund
As of 2024 year-end, the National Impact Fund has invested $109 million. Funding recipients included:
- Clear Vision Impact Fund, which provides capital to established, minority-owned businesses and expands access to products and services in underserved communities
- BlackRock Impact Opportunities Fund, which enables clients to invest in direct private market opportunities that accelerate positive economic outcomes for undercapitalized communities6
- Siguler Guff, which provides credit to small businesses in underserved communities, creating and retaining quality jobs where they are needed the most
NM Future Ventures
Through Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, we support entrepreneurs who have been underserved in accessing venture capital. We prioritize investment in companies that align with our strategic business priorities, including companies that:
- Develop tools and platforms to help us deliver the best client experience
- Bring new technologies and enhanced analytics to market
- Work to shape the future of health and wellness
Beyond providing capital, investing creates opportunities to forge meaningful business partnerships—sharing our expertise to help their business grow while maximizing our return on investment.
Check out our 2024 Sustainability and Impact Report to learn how we’re building a better way to tomorrow
1 Source: S&P Capital IQ Pro. Prepared and calculated by Northwestern Mutual.
2 Combined client assets of Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS), and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC) as of December 31, 2024. The advisory programs offered by NMWMC are in conjunction with brokerage services from NMWMC’s affiliate, NMIS. NMIS and NMWMC are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Northwestern Mutual.
3 https://news.northwesternmutual.com/planning-and-progressstudy-2024
4 How life insurers can provide differentiated retirement benefits, EY, 2022.
5 Not all Northwestern Mutual representatives are advisors. Only those representatives with “advisor” in their title or who otherwise disclose their status as an advisor of NMWMC are credentialed as NMWMC representatives to provide investment advisory services. For ease of reference, we refer to Northwestern Mutual representatives as advisors throughout this report.
