Northwestern Mutual to Pay Nea

Industry-Leading Payout Tops 2010 by $150 Million

MILWAUKEE -- The Board of Trustees of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company has approved a dividend payout of nearly $4.9 billion for participating policyowners for the year 2011, an increase of more than $150 million over its expected 2010 payout.

With this payout, the financial security company expects to continue to lead its industry in total life insurance dividends paid. Northwestern Mutual currently pays more in ordinary life insurance dividends than the next two highest-paying companies combined.

The company credits its dividend payout to careful underwriting, rigorous expense management, diversified investing, and strong performance in other operating fundamentals.

鈥淥ur 2011 dividend is great for our policyowners,鈥?said John Schlifske, chairman and chief executive officer of Northwestern Mutual. 鈥淚n absolute terms, it鈥檚 a terrific payout鈥攖he second highest we鈥檝e ever paid. We are particularly proud of how we perform compared to the industry. We pay more in dividends than companies that are larger than us, and we do that while also being among the financially strongest companies in the iphone case world.鈥?

Northwestern Mutual鈥檚 structure as a mutual company allows it to return a portion of its investment gains and favorable results from claims and expense experience to participating policyowners in the form of dividends. While dividends are not guaranteed, with this announcement Northwestern Mutual will have paid dividends to policyowners for 140 consecutive years.

鈥淲e are also very proud of our consistent performance,鈥?said Schlifske. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to deliver value consistently over the long term in good economic times and in bad.鈥?

Highlights of the 2011 Estimated Dividend Payout

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The financial security company highlighted the following aspects of its 2011 dividend, as well as the separate dividend announcement of its subsidiary, the Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company:

Life Insurance 鈥?About iphone case 90 percent of the $4.9 billion will be paid to participating permanent life insurance policyowners. Schlifske noted that more than half of policyowner dividends paid on permanent life insurance policies come from favorable underwriting and expense results. Northwestern Mutual shares savings in these areas with its policyowners through dividends.

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Term Life Insurance 鈥?Nearly $123 million in policyowner dividends is expected to be paid to term life insurance policyowners in 2011.

Disability Insurance 鈥?The company expects policyowner dividends in its disability line to reach $233 million in 2011. The company estimates its DI dividend will be about 10 times greater than the second-highest paying company.

Fixed and Variable Annuities 鈥?These annuity products are expected to receive nearly $27 million in dividends during 2011.

Long-Term Care Insurance 鈥?The Board of Directors of the Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company approved a dividend payout of $11.2 million on long-term care pol