National Life Group is a group of financial service companies that offers life insurance and annuity products for individuals, families, and businesses. It was chartered in 1848 by the Vermont Legislature.
History
National Life Insurance, the predecessor company of National Life Group, was chartered by the Vermont Legislature on November 13, 1848. It has been insuring people for over 170 years and was one of the first mutual life insurance companies in the U.S. Past insurance customers have included passengers on the Titanic, as well as victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic. It became a member of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce in 1957. National Life offers a range of financial services, including life insurance coverage and retirement plans, and annuities. The Group’s customer base was 843,000 in 2016, and in 2017 the face value of its life insurance policies was just over $100 billion. The company is based in Montpelier, Vermont, with additional offices in Addison, Texas. Several member companies make up National Life Group, including Life Insurance Company of the Southwest. Equity Services, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and investment advisor, is an affiliate of National Life. In 2017, National Life sold Sentinel mutual funds to Touchstone Investments. In 2019, National Life Group expanded its partnership with Cognizant, an IT consulting corporation. In March 2020, the company’s CEO, Mehran Assadi, was awarded the Transformative CEO Award for Customer Experience in the insurance category by The CEO Forum. Authors Jackie and Kevin Freiberg, who wrote NUTS! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success, feature National Life Group in their book CAUSE!.
Products
National Life Group offers both term and permanent life insurance. Under permanent life insurance, the company offers: Whole Life, Universal Life, Indexed Universal Life, and Variable Universal Life. Two of National Life’s IUL products are FlexLife and PeakLife. In 2011, National Life introduced the Lifetime Income Benefit Rider as a lifetime income option for its IUL products. In 2019, the company introduced TotalSecure. TotalSecure is a flexible whole life insurance product that allows customers to access their policy in the event of a qualifying illness or injury.
The National Life Group Foundation sponsors various charitable events and programs focused on children, students, and educators. The Foundation helps sponsor the LifeChanger of the Year Award and the National Coalition for Safe Schools. In 2018, the budget for the company’s charitable foundation was $2 million, and in 2019, the Foundation funded the report, “Evidence-Based Strategies to End Childhood Food Insecurity and Hunger in Vermont”. Each year, National Life partners with The Point radio network to stage the Group’s Do Good Fest. Since 2014, the Fest has raised $185,000 for cancer patients at the Central Vermont Medical Center.
Ratings and Rankings
In 2018, the company received "A" ratings from credit agencies. This included AM Best, Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The company was also included in the Fortune 1000 list and America’s Magnificent Eight Exceptional Businesses.
