Three policyholder-owned life insurers could increase their total dividend payments on participating insurance policies by about 10% in 2024.
The insurers — MassMutual, Northwestern Mutual and Thrivent — have announced plans to pay about $10 billion in dividends next year, up from $9.1 billion in dividends this year.
What it means: An often-overlooked slice of clients' portfolios could work harder to make the pie grow.
Mutual life insurers: Mutual life insurers, or insurers owned by their policyholders, often pay dividends to their policyholder owners to reflect the gains resulting both from a dividend interest rate related to investment earnings and insurance underwriting activities.
Mutual life insurers are best known for paying dividends on whole life insurance but may also pay dividends on other types of policies, such as disability insurance and long-term care insurance.
Insurers always emphasize that the projected dividend payments are not guaranteed.
The 2023 dividends: A year ago, the combined 2023 dividend payout announced by MassMutual, Northwestern Mutual and Thrivent was about 12% higher than the total announced for 2022.
