new york life insurance company the company you keep type mutual industry insurance life & annuity founded 1845 headquarters new york life building new york city new york u.s. key people ted mathas ceo and chairman revenue 27.29 billion 1 usd 2014 net income 2.024 billion 1 usd 2014 number of employees 12 000 2014 website www.newyorklife.com new york life insurance company nylic is the largest mutual life insurance company in the united states and one of the largest life insurers in the world ranking 61 on the 2016 fortune 500 list 2 with about 550 billion in total assets under management and more than 21 billion in surplus and avr . 3 in 2007 nylic achieved the best possible ratings by the four independent rating companies standard & poor s am best moody s and fitch . other new york life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services as well as institutional and retail mutual funds . contents 1 history 2 financial crisis of early 21st century 3 criticism and controversy 4 business scope 5 international operations 6 new york life insurance buildings 7 new york life insurance reviews and ratings at a glimpse 8 external links history edit new york life building the company was founded in 1845 as the nautilus insurance company in new york city with assets of 17 000 . it was renamed the new york life insurance company in 1849 . its first headquarters were at 58 wall street from 1845 until 1846 at which time they were moved to 29 wall street . subsequent addresses included 68 wall street 106 broadway and 112 114 broadway . the first president was james depeyster ogden who served from 1845 until 1847 . the current new york life headquarters was designed by architect cass gilbert and completed in 1928 . the new york life building at 51 madison avenue was constructed during the presidency of darwin p. kingsley . as with other early insurance companies in the u.s. in its early years 1846 1848 at the behest of its southern agents the company insured the lives of slaves for their owners . these policies were discontinued at the direction of the trustees on april 19 1848 . the total claims paid on slaves lives totaled 1 050 . nautilus sold 485 slaveholder life insurance policies during a two year period in the 1840s . their trustees voted to end the sale of such policies 15 years before the emancipation proclamation . 4 in 1860 before state laws required it new york life developed the non forfeiture option the predecessor to the guaranteed cash values of modern policies under which a policy remains in force even if a premium payment is missed . it was also the first american life insurance company to pay a cash dividend to policyholders and the first u.s. company to issue policies to women at the same rates as men . susan b. anthony was one of their first female policy holders and her father worked for nylic . 5 in 1896 new york life became the first company to insure people with disabilities and the first to issue a policy with a disability benefit that presumes total disability to be permanent after a predetermined period . in the late 1990s new york life was one of several large mutual life insurers to back a new york state bill that would permit the formation of a mutual holding company mhc a corporate structure that could preserve mutuality for policyholders while providing a company access to capital markets without the full demutualization of the organization . ceo sy sternberg himself argued strongly in favor of the bill 6 which was ultimately defeated . the nylic board of directors subsequently reaffirmed its commitment to remaining a mutual and the company strongly and publicly embraced this decision through a series of advertisements . financial crisis of early 21st century edit according to their report to policyholders 2007 in early 2007 the company s managers became concerned about the state of credit markets so in february 2007 based on our belief that the markets were acting irrationally new york life decided to move much of its cash flow into safer investments such as us treasury bonds . by august 2007 the credit market problems we had feared were front page news the report notes . in november 2008 the company announced it would not participate in the troubled asset relief program . the company can meet all of its strategic objectives without government capital its businesses are strong and profitable and it is committed to remaining a mutual company operating for the sole benefit of its policyholders states a company press release . 7 theodore ted mathas president and ceo in 2008 said at the time of the financial crisis that new york life is built for times like these . this phrase became the title for the 2008 report to policyholders . ted mathas becomes the company chairman on june 1 2009 . 8 new york life maintains superior financial ratings from a.m. best fitch moody s and standard and poor s all of which have reaffirmed the ratings during the financial crisis of autumn 2008 . 9 criticism and controversy edit new york life has been the object of much skepticism and scrutiny over allegedly unethical sales practices and refusal to remit death benefits notably in the state of california . 10 11 nyl settled an investigation over negligent business practices in california for 15 million . a similar controversy came to light in 2008 with criminal proceedings in the state of new jersey . 12 a major class action lawsuit was filed in 2013 in indiana where plaintiffs claimed that employees of the new york life insurance company routinely engaged in securities fraud life insurance fraud and other violations of indiana state securities laws . 13 there have also been numerous complaints issued by employees of new york life for encouraging multi level marketing practices including lack of base pay use of high pressure sales tactics and encouragement on the parts of management to target employees family members and vulnerable members of employees communities for sales marks . 14 business scope edit both nyl and its primary american insurance subsidiary new york life insurance and annuity corporation are licensed to do business in all 50 states and the district of columbia . 15 16 the company also sells annuities and long term care insurance ; mutual funds through its subsidiary nylife securities a registered broker dealer ; and provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services from subsidiary new york life investment management nylim . 17 18 on nov. 18 2015 new york life s board of directors voted to approve a total dividend payout to participating policyholders of 1.7 billion the highest level in the company s 170 year history . this represents a 83 million 5.2 % increase over the 2015 level and a 37 % increase since 2012 . and it marks the 162nd consecutive year in which they have exceeded guarantees by paying dividends on eligible participating policies . new york life has dominated the million dollar round table mdrt in the united states for the 61st consecutive year with 2 464 members in 2015 . mdrt granted membership to only 9 966 agents in the entire united states making membership in this organization a distinguishing life insurance career milestone for those demonstrating superior professional knowledge experience and client service . ny life building kansas city . international operations edit operation in mexico . 19 new york life insurance buildings edit the new york life insurance company has commissioned a number of buildings under the name new york life insurance building . new york life building in new york city new york life insurance building chicago new york life insurance building kansas city new york life insurance building montreal new york palace budapest new york life insurance building amsterdam torre new york life in mexico city new york life insurance reviews and ratings at a glimpse edit https www.todaynewsedition.com new york life insurance reviews ratings new york life insurance reviews and ratings at a glimpse a b bloomberg.com . new york life insurance company announces earnings results for the year ended december 31.2014 bloomberg business . bloomberg . retrieved april 14 2015 . new york life insurance financials and news fortune 500 . fortune . retrieved june 10 2015 . new york life 2012 annual report pdf . new york life insurance company . retrieved 2013 07 30 . slavery era policies report august 2004 . illinois department of financial & professional regulation . blake mckelvey . susan b. anthony pdf . rochester history . retrieved 2007 01 08 . alexander b. grannis chairman ; et al. the feeling s not mutual . new york state assembly . retrieved 2007 01 08 . new york life will not participate in treasury capital program . new york life insurance company . retrieved 2009 02 03 . ted mathas becomes chairman of the board of new york life on june 1 . new york life insurance company . retrieved june 19 2009 . what the rating agencies say . new york life insurance company . retrieved 2009 . check date values in access date help new york life insurance company review insurance companies in new york ny bbb business review bbb serving metropolitan new york long island and the mid hudson region . www.bbb.org . retrieved 2016 08 24 . line feed character in title at position 32 help findlaw s california court of appeal case and opinions . . findlaw . retrieved 2016 08 24 . market conduct report state of new jersey pdf . nj.gov . 2008 . new york life hit with annuity fraud lawsuit . 2013 12 16 . retrieved 2016 08 24 . findlaw s california court of appeal case and opinions . . findlaw . retrieved 2016 08 24 . consumer information for nylic 2005 . naic . retrieved 2007 01 06 . consumer information for nyliac 2005 . naic . retrieved 2007 01 06 . assets under management . new york life investment management llc . retrieved 2007 01 03 . about nylim retirement plan services . new york life investment management llc . retrieved 2007 01 03 . 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