New York Life Insurance Company

Early history , December 1st, 1894. New York Life Insurance Company first opened in Manhattan's Financial District 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 and marine insurance. 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. 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 1896, New York Life became the first company to insure people with disabilities or in hazardous occupations. The company moved into the 34-story skyscraper in 1929. In the 1970s, New York Life began selling annuities and mutual funds. 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. During the 2008 financial crisis, New York Life Insurance Company rejected assistance from the U.S. Treasury Department. 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. NYLIC acquired a unit of The Cigna Group's business in 2020 that sold non-health insurance products for 6.3 billion. The unit became New York Life Group Benefit Solutions. 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 until DeSanto assumed the role of chairman in April 2023. ==Operations==

As of 2024, New York Life Insurance Company was the country's second-largest life insurance company. As a mutual life insurer, New York Life is owned by its policyholders and has no outside shareholders. In 2024, New York Life reported approximately $27 billion in revenue and $470 million in net income. That year, it had approximately $245 billion in total assets and $26 billion in total equity. As a mutual life insurer, New York Life distributes a portion of its earnings to eligible policyholders as annual dividends. Products and services New York Life's core product is whole life insurance, a type of life insurance offering lifelong protection that builds cash value over time. The insurance businesses portfolio includes: Institutional Life, Institutional Annuities, New York Life Direct, New York Life Group Benefit Solutions, Group Membership Association Department, and Seguros Monterrey New York Life. New York Life also sells term life insurance, universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities and disability insurance. Asset management and investment New York Life Investments is a subsidiary global asset management business which serves both institutional and retail clients. New York Life Ventures launched in 2012. It is the corporate venture capital business of New York Life. Investments have included startup technology companies. The group manages money through independent investment boutiques. These affiliated boutiques include: • Apogem, a private equity formed by the merger of GoldPoint Partners, Madison Capital Funding, and PA Capital • 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. The Foundation was established in 1979 and primarily supports programs that benefit young people, particularly childhood bereavement support. It first became involved in childhood bereavement programs when it supported the Comfort Zone Camp in 2007. as well as Sesame Workshop's "Growing as We Grieve" grief toolkit, which won Webby and Anthem awards in 2024. ==Ratings and rankings==

In 2025 Fortune named New York Life among its Most Admired Companies in the life insurance industry. Forbes ranked New York Life #364 among America's Best Employers for 2017. As of 2025, New York Life ranks No. 69 on the Fortune 500. ==References==