Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023
Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co. Pension Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $3.3B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 8,348
- Participants Very large workforce
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $395,083
- Avg per participant High balance/head
Official DOL plan name: The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan · Sponsored by Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co. · Wisconsin · Finance & Insurance
$3.3B in assets, 8,348 participants
Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co.'s The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reported $3.3B in total assets and 8,348 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 100th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.
- #8,792 in Finance & Insurance (8,869 peers)
Coverage in Wisconsin
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan covers 8,348 participants in Wisconsin, 15x the typical Wisconsin plan (state average ~563 per filing). Assets: $3.3B.
- #8,792
- in Finance & Insurance (8,869 peers)
- +7.3%
- assets growth YoY
- 33×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan's outsized position by total assets
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan vs every filed plan by assets
End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500
$3,298,151,091 Highest reported value at or above every one of 127,068 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan's large-plan peer group by participant headcount
Plan-year 2023 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan lands in the large band (8,348 participants).
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2022 → plan year 2023
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reported net income rose from -$942M in the plan year 2022 filing to $217M in the plan year 2023 filing.
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reported participants rose from 7,377 in the plan year 2022 filing to 8,348 in the plan year 2023 filing.
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan end-of-year assets rose from $3.1B in the plan year 2022 filing to $3.3B in the plan year 2023 filing.
Form 5500 schedule snapshot
Filing strip 390509570 · Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co. PY 2023 · Defined Benefit (Pension)
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan · $3.3B · 8,348 · 100th
- RANK $3.3B
- PHOTO 8,348
- IND 100th
- EOY Defined Benefit (Pension)
- 5500 near Construction Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Southern California
- ASSETS ind #8792
Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Finance & Insurance retirement plans → · Plans in Wisconsin →
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan in the asset neighbourhood
Wisconsin filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $3.1B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $3.3B |
| Net Income | $217M |
| Employer EIN | 390509570 |
| Plan Effective Date | 1947-01-01 |
| Filing Status | FILING RECEIVED |
Sponsor Plan History (Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co.)
Sponsor-wide plan assets over time
All Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co. plans reported in each filing year
- Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
- $9.6B 12.691710490574781% vs 2022
- 2024 filing year
| Year | Plans | Participants | Total Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4 | 27,987 | $8.6B |
| 2023 | 4 | 29,929 | $9.3B |
| 2024 | 4 | 30,138 | $9.6B |
Nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in Wisconsin
Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.
- Building Trades United Pension Trust Fund Milwaukee and Vicinity $3.3B · 9,960
- The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Retirement Plan $2.1B · 7,368
- Harley-Davidson Retirement Plan $1.9B · 1,560
- Rockwell Automation Pension Plan $1.8B · 2,136
- North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Fund $1.7B · 5,662
Scale composition for The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reports $3.3B in end-of-year assets across 8,348 participants (0.027% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.009% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $395,083 per participant (2.9x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $217M.
This plan identity (EIN 390509570, plan #003) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $3.1B to $3.3B (+5.9%) while covered participants moved from 7,377 to 8,254 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.
| Plan year | Participants | EOY assets | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7,377 | $3.1B | Open filing |
| 2023 | 8,348 | $3.3B | This page |
| 2024 · index core | 8,254 | $3.3B | Open filing |
The same sponsor also keeps 4 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan (Defined Benefit (Pension), $3.3B, 8,254 participants)
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan (401(k), $2.9B, 8,232 participants)
- The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Retirement Plan (Defined Benefit (Pension), $2.1B, 7,653 participants)
- The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Persistency Fee Guarantee Fund (Profit Sharing, $1.4B, 5,999 participants)
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount
Outside Wisconsin, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Construction Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Southern California in CA ($3.3B); by covered participants it is Locals 302 & 612 of the Iuoe - Employers Construction Industry Retirement Plan in WA (8,339 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($3.3B here).
- Construction Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Southern California (CA) $3.3B · 23,365
- California Ironworkers Field Pension Trust (CA) $3.3B · 10,048
- Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan (WA) $3.3B · 15,892
- Cummins Pension Plan (IN) $3.3B · 26,560
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (8,348 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- Locals 302 & 612 of the Iuoe - Employers Construction Industry Retirement Plan (WA) 8,339 · 9 off
- University of Pennsylvania Health Sysytem Pension Plan (PA) 8,369 · 21 off
- Umass Memorial Health Care Pension Plan (MA) 8,379 · 31 off
- Glaxosmithkline Cash Balance Pension Plan (PA) 8,441 · 93 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.