401(k) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023

Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co. 401(k) Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$2.7B
Total assets Very large vs avg
8,299
Participants Very large workforce
99th
Percentile by assets National rank
$319,439
Avg per participant High balance/head
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Official DOL plan name: The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan · Sponsored by Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co. · Wisconsin · Finance & Insurance

$2.7B in assets, 8,299 participants

Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co.'s The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan reported $2.7B in total assets and 8,299 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 99th 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.

  • #8,771 in Finance & Insurance (8,869 peers)

Coverage in Wisconsin

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan covers 8,299 participants in Wisconsin, 15x the typical Wisconsin plan (state average ~563 per filing). Assets: $2.7B.

#8,771
in Finance & Insurance (8,869 peers)
+11.1%
assets growth YoY
27×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan's outsized position by total assets

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500

$2,651,025,594 Top 1% higher than 99% of 127,068 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

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 Savings 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 Savings Plan lands in the large band (8,299 participants).

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2022 → plan year 2023

  • The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan reported net income rose from -$121M in the plan year 2022 filing to $265M in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan reported participants rose from 7,423 in the plan year 2022 filing to 8,299 in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan end-of-year assets rose from $2.4B in the plan year 2022 filing to $2.7B in the plan year 2023 filing.

See the national 2022→2023 release diff →

Published 5500 schedule card

Filing strip 390509570 · Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co. PY 2023 · 401(k)

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan · $2.7B · 8,299 · 99th

  • 5500 $2.7B
  • 5500 8,299
  • 5500 99th
  • 5500 401(k)
  • 5500 near Kinder Morgan Savings Plan
  • 5500 ind #8771

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 Savings Plan in the asset neighbourhood

Latham & Watkins 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing PlanLatham & Watkins 401(k) Savi…$2.7BKinder Morgan Savings Plan$2.7BUnfi 401(k) Plan$2.7BPaccar Inc Savings Investment PlanPaccar Inc Savings Investmen…$2.7BThe Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings PlanThe Northwestern Mutual Empl…$2.7B
End-of-year total assets ($B) among The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan and nearest nationwide 401(k) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023.

Wisconsin filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$2.4B
Net Assets (End of Year)$2.7B
Net Income$265M
Employer EIN390509570
Plan Effective Date1985-01-01
Filing StatusFILING 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
$8B$8.5B$9B$9.5B$10B 202220232024 $8.56B $9.65B ▲ +12.7%
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 4 27,987 $8.6B
2023 4 29,929 $9.3B
2024 4 30,138 $9.6B

Nearby 401(k) Plans in Wisconsin

Peer 401(k) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan vs. nearby 401(k) plans in Wisconsin, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 020000400006000080000100000 246810 Total assets ($B) Participants The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 2.651025594 · Participants: 8299The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings PlanAdvocate Aurora Health 401(k) Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.125723544 · Participants: 76956Advocate Aurora Health 401(k) PlanJohnson Controls Retirement Savings and Investment Plan, Total assets ($B): 6.160116767 · Participants: 28904Johnson Controls Retirement Savings and Investment PlanFiserv 401(k) Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 4.81171463 · Participants: 25280Fiserv 401(k) Savings PlanKimberly-Clark Corporation 401(k) & Profit Sharing Plan, Total assets ($B): 4.550761 · Participants: 11236Kimberly-Clark Corporation 401(k) & Profit Sharing PlanRockwell Automation Retirement Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 3.62235882 · Participants: 8877Rockwell Automation Retirement Savings Plan
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan vs. nearby 401(k) plans in Wisconsin, assets vs. participants
Compare The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan reports $2.7B in end-of-year assets across 8,299 participants (0.022% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.009% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $319,439 per participant (2.3x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $265M.

This plan identity (EIN 390509570, plan #005) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $2.4B to $2.9B (+21.2%) while covered participants moved from 7,423 to 8,232 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 7,423 $2.4B Open filing
2023 8,299 $2.7B This page
2024 · index core 8,232 $2.9B Open filing

The same sponsor also keeps 4 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:

The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan's out-of-state 401(k) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Wisconsin, the nearest 401(k) by assets is Kinder Morgan Savings Plan in TX ($2.7B); by covered participants it is Southern Veterinary Partners, LLC 401(k) Plan in AL (8,298 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Closest by plan assets

Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($2.7B here).

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (8,299 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan assets move in 2023? ▼
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan grew at a solid clip - up 11.1% during 2023, from $2.4B to $2.7B. Reported net income was $265M.
How have Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co. plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 12.7%, from $8.6B to $9.6B.
Where does The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan ranks in the 99th percentile by end-of-year assets among 127,072 plans that reported assets for plan year 2023 (among the largest 1% of all filed plans).
Which 401(k) plans are similar in size to The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan? ▼
Among 401(k) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Kinder Morgan Savings Plan in TX ($2.7B, 10,615 participants).
Which 401(k) plans cover a similar participant headcount to The Northwestern Mutual Employee Savings Plan? ▼
Among 401(k) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Southern Veterinary Partners, LLC 401(k) Plan in AL (8,298 participants, $132M in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2023.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 390509570.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA). See our methodology for details.