Employer · plans filed under one EIN
Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.co.
Milwaukee, WI · Finance and insurance
Form 5500 information is as filed by the plan administrator with the Department of Labor and may be amended. Figures reflect the plan year shown, not current balances.
4 retirement plans with 100 or more participants file Form 5500 under Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.co.'s employer identification number (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Their latest filings total 49,512 participant records and $9.60B in net assets.
The largest is The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan, a defined benefit pension plan with 14,379 participants. A person can be counted in more than one plan, so the participant total is a count of records rather than of people.
Employer contributions across the plans were $35.8M and participant contributions $94.1M in the latest plan years; benefits paid were $390M. Schedule C compensation reported to service provider organisations totalled $9.1M.
Combined net assets moved from $3.25B in 2009 to $9.60B in 2024 (up 195%). Plan mergers and spin-offs show up here as steps in the series.
Plans
| Plan | Kind | Plan year | Participants | Net assets | Per participant | Employer / active | Sch. C compensation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan | defined benefit pension plan | 2024 | 14,379 | $3.23B | $224,472 | — | $4.9M |
| The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Retirement Plan | defined benefit pension plan | 2024 | 13,879 | $2.06B | $148,343 | — | $3.2M |
| The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan | 401(k) plan | 2024 | 12,763 | $2.89B | $226,612 | — | $633K |
| The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Persistency Fee Guarantee Fund | profit-sharing plan | 2024 | 8,491 | $1.42B | $167,632 | $5,875 | $299K |
| US median, plan year 2024: DC plans $53,102 per participant, $2,175 employer contribution per active participant; DB plans $86,221 and $10,244. | |||||||
Trend by plan year
| Plan year | Plans | Participant records | Net assets | Employer contributions | Participant contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 49,512 | $9.60B | $35.8M | $94.1M |
| 2023 | 4 | 49,466 | $9.32B | $34.8M | $92.1M |
| 2022 | 4 | 48,653 | $8.55B | $32.3M | $84.8M |
| 2021 | 4 | 45,536 | $10.3B | $30.4M | $76.2M |
| 2020 | 4 | 43,252 | $9.63B | $56.3M | $68.2M |
| 2019 | 4 | 40,609 | $8.53B | $52.0M | $61.4M |
| 2018 | 3 | 28,628 | $4.46B | $50.1M | $57.3M |
| 2017 | 3 | 30,684 | $6.74B | $22.6M | $56.8M |
| 2016 | 3 | 30,057 | $6.00B | $22.2M | $55.2M |
| 2015 | 4 | 35,451 | $6.34B | $45.7M | $48.5M |
| 2014 | 4 | 34,183 | $6.32B | $42.4M | $43.8M |
| 2013 | 4 | 33,356 | $5.82B | $35.4M | $39.9M |
| 2012 | 4 | 32,618 | $5.22B | $73.5M | $38.0M |
| 2011 | 4 | 31,697 | $4.67B | $267M | $36.1M |
| 2010 | 4 | 30,954 | $4.41B | $231M | $34.9M |
| 2009 | 3 | 24,275 | $3.25B | $84.5M | $35.6M |
History of the plans listed above, in the years each filed the full Form 5500 with 100 or more participants. Plans that have since terminated are not included.
Service providers
| Organisation | Services reported | Plans | Compensation reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| NM Investment MGMT Co. | Investment management | 2 | $7,882,709 |
| The Vanguard Group, Inc. | Recordkeeping and information management; Consulting (general); Trustee (directed); Participant loan processing | 2 | $932,057 |
| Bellwether Consulting LLC | — | 2 | $238,566 |
Organisations paid $5,000 or more by any of these plans, from Schedule C. Individuals are not shown.
Questions and answers
How many retirement plans does Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.co. have?
4 plans with 100 or more participants filed Form 5500 under its employer identification number for the latest plan years: The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan, The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Retirement Plan, The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan and The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Persistency Fee Guarantee Fund. Smaller plans and plans filed under a subsidiary's number are not grouped here.
How much does Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.co. contribute to its plans?
$35,822,817 in employer contributions across these plans in their latest plan years, about $1,197 per active participant record. Form 5500 reports totals and not the match or accrual formula.
Who provides services to these plans?
Schedule C filings name NM Investment MGMT Co., The Vanguard Group, Inc. and Bellwether Consulting LLC. Only organisations paid $5,000 or more by a plan are listed on Schedule C.
Where does this come from?
Form 5500 annual reports filed with the Department of Labor's EFAST2 system, from the EBSA research files, with filings received through 24 Aug 2026. Figures are as filed and may be amended.
Provenance
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Form 5500 research files, public domain, with filings received through 24 Aug 2026. Plans are grouped by the sponsor's employer identification number exactly as filed; a company that files under several EINs appears as several employers. See the methodology and corrections.