BY NUMBER OF AGENTS This would be rating the insurer by the number of agents that are currently under contract. I feel that would be worthless for a couple of reasons. First of all there are a numbers of career life insurance agencies that have thousands of representatives. However, sometimes 80% of the total agents are relatively new to the industry. Four years down the line only 6% will remain to become career representatives. The second inaccuracy of this method is due to licensing renewal sent to the insurer. Although states differ in procedures for removing non-active reps, it is costly and time consuming for the company to do so. Renewing all the sales agents is often cheaper, and the route the insurer takes. This also gives the company bragging rights to how many salespeople write for them.
Personally I was shown as state insurance department records as licensed for 11 years after I wrote my last case.
BY RATINGS OF COMPANIES There are four or five top independent firms that rate these companies on a multitude of factors. Among many life association members there is a consensus that the highest rated insurers are the best of the bunch. Yet association members make up less than 12% of the total agents. The other representatives selling life insurance (the majority), could very well not agree that these are the best ones to use for their client's needs. Logic tells you that a newer insurer does not start out top rated. In my situation, clients bought what I showed them. Nearly half the time it was NOT the highest rated company by the rating firms. I however sold the client what they need. Some of the higher rated ones later financially failed.
BY RATINGS OF PREMIUMS COLLECTED This is a very common type of listing to find. The fault I find with this is in who bought the policies. Also very often an extreme amount of premium was in the annuity category. Producers know it is easier to sell a $20,000 annuity than a $20,000 premium term insurance policy. Additionally a lot of these premiums were not collected by the average salesperson. A lot of institutional buyers bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of annuity premiums.
BY RATINGS IMPORTANT TO LIFE SELLERS This is my way. As fair and balanced from an selling agent perspective as feasible. Premiums collected from the 1,500,000 agents, trying to make a living in this industry. This is done because the rankings list is meant to provide a list of companies where the insurance is written primarily by independent brokers, semi-independent representatives, along with the career agents.
The top life insurance company rankings list is purposely placed in alphabetical order instead of premium or financial data. You may not agree completely with the list, because we have left in some companies with a strong percentage of business sold in annuities, and investment products.
In the eyes of the typical life and health insurance agents, this list is about as accurate as possible.
1. Aetna Life Insurance Company
2. AIG Life Insurance Company
3. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
4. American Family Life Assurance Co of Columbus
5. American Fidelity Assurance Company
6. American General Life and Accident INS Co
7. American General Life Insurance Co
8. American Income Life Insurance Co
9. American Memorial Life Insurance Co
10. American National Life Insurance Co
11. Americo Financial Life And Annuity Insurance Co
12. Anthem Blue Cross Life And Health Ins Co
13 Aurora National Assurance Life Insurance Company
14 Aviva Life and Annuity Company
15. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
16.Bankers Life and Casualty Company
17. Banner Life Insurance Company
18. Beneficial Life Insurance Company
19. C.M. Life Insurance Company
20. Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company
21. Columbus Life Insurance Company
22. Conseco Life Insurance Company
23. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company
24. First-Penn Pacific Life Insurance Company
25.Forethought Life Insurance Company
26. General American Life Insurance Company
27. Genworth Insurance Company
28. Gerber Life Insurance Company
29. Great American Life Insurance Company
30. Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co.
31. Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
32. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company
33. Hartford Life Insurance Company
34. Homesteaders Life Company
35. Indianapolis Life Insurance Company
36. ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company
37. Jackson National Life Insurance Company
38. John Hancock Life Insurance Company
39. John Hancock Life Insurance Company USA
40.. Kansas City Life Insurance Company
41.. Lafayette Life Insurance Company
42... Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston
43.. Liberty National Life Insurance Company
44.. Life Insurance Company of North America
45. Life Insurance Company of the Southwest
46. Life Investors Insurance Co of America
47. Lincoln Benefit Life Company
48. Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company
49. Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
50. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
51. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
52. Midland National Life Insurance Company
53. Minnesota Life Insurance Company
54. Monumental Life Insurance Company
55. MONY Life Insurance Company of America
56. MONY Life Insurance Company
57. National Guardian Life Insurance Company
58. National Life Insurance Company
59. New England Life Insurance Company
60. New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation
61. New York Life Insurance Company
62. North American Company for Life & Health Ins.
63. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
64. Ohio National Life Assurance Corporation
65. OM Financial Life Insurance Company
66. Pacific Life Insurance Company
67. Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
68. Phoenix Life Insurance Company
69. Primerica Life Insurance Company
70. Principal Life Insurance Company
71. Protective Life Insurance Company
72. Provident Life and Accident Insurance Co.
73. Pruco Life Insurance Company
74. Prudential Life Insurance Company of America
75. Reassure America Life Insurance Company
76. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company
77. ReliaStar Life Insurance Company
78. Riversource Life Insurance Company
79. Security Life of Denver Insurance Company
80. Standard Insurance Company
81. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company
82. Sun Life and Health Insurance Company
83, Sunset Life Insurance Company of America
84. Surety Life Insurance Company
85. Symetra Life Insurance Company
86. Transamerica Life Insurance Company
87. Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Company
88. Trustmark Insurance Company
89. U.S. Financial Life Insurance Company
90. Union Central Life Insurance Company
91. Union Security Insurance Company
92. United Healthcare Insurance Company
93. United Insurance Company of America
94. United Investors Life Insurance Company
95. United of Omaha Life Insurance Company
96. United States Life Insurance Company
97. Unum Life Insurance Company of America
98. West Coast Life Insurance Company
99. Western and Southern Life Insurance Company
100. Western Reserve Life Assurance Co of Ohio
QUESTIONABLE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES
The following insurance companies often be included in some top 100 Life insurance company rankings IF you were evaluating premiums written. Sometimes this consists of considerable amounts of annuity premiums. Also counted in would be insurers where a large portion of sales does not come from insurance salespeople. Instead it is written by security stock brokerage firms, and independent broker dealers of variable investment contracts not governed by insurance departments. In other cases, products may be directly strictly toward teachers, the military, or credit unions. In a couple cases, there are companies with pending litigation. A representation of these companies is listed below:
1. Cuna Mutual Insurance Society
2. Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Co.
3. Harford Life and Annuity Insurance Company
4. John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company
5. Mayflower National Life Insurance Company
6. METLIFE INSURANCE CO OF CONNECTICUT
7. METLIFE INVESTORS USA INSURANCE CO
8. MML BAY STATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
9. NATIONWIDE LIFE
10. NATIONWIDE LIFE & ANNUITY
11. NYLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF ARIZONA
12. PHL VARIABLE INSURANCE COMPANY
13. SUN LIFE ASSURANCE CO OF CANADA
14. TEACHERS INS AND ANNUITY ASSOC OF AMERICA
15. USAA Life Insurance Company
There is a grand total of over 600 Licensed Life Insurance Companies in the United States. However, some are not currently writing new business. In addition, there are many active in only one or a few states, so they are missing from the top life insurance company rankings. Most states have a true actual count of 220 to 330 life and health insurance companies currently accepting new cases from insurance agents and independent brokers.
