Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024
Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co. Pension Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $3.3B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 8,254
- Participants Very large workforce
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $394,268
- 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, 8,254 participants
Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co.'s The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reported $3.3B in total assets and 8,254 participants in its 2024 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.
- #8,464 in Finance & Insurance (8,549 peers)
Coverage in Wisconsin
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan covers 8,254 participants in Wisconsin, 15x the typical Wisconsin plan (state average ~563 per filing). Assets: $3.3B.
- #8,464
- in Finance & Insurance (8,549 peers)
- -1.3%
- assets change YoY
- 33×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
The plan reported a net loss of $60M for the year, a single-year figure driven by markets and benefit payments, not a measure of plan health.
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 2024 · DOL Form 5500
$3,254,287,792 Highest reported value at or above every one of 123,620 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2024
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan's large-plan peer group by participant headcount
Plan-year 2024 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 (8,254 participants).
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2023 → plan year 2024
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reported net income fell from $217M in the plan year 2023 filing to -$60M in the plan year 2024 filing.
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan end-of-year assets fell from $3.3B in the plan year 2023 filing to $3.3B in the plan year 2024 filing.
- The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reported participants fell from 8,348 in the plan year 2023 filing to 8,254 in the plan year 2024 filing.
EBSA filing schedule strip
Filing strip 390509570 · Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.Co. PY 2024 · Defined Benefit (Pension)
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan · $3.3B · 8,254 · 100th
- EOY $3.3B
- EOY 8,254
- EOY 100th
- EOY Defined Benefit (Pension)
- EOY near Msi Pension Plan
- EOY ind #8464
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) | $3.3B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $3.2B |
| Net Income | -$60M |
| 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 $3.5B · 10,236
- The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Agents Retirement Plan $2.1B · 7,653
- Harley-Davidson Retirement Plan $1.9B · 1,414
- North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Fund $1.8B · 5,105
- Rockwell Automation Pension Plan $1.8B · 2,001
Scale composition for The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan
The Northwestern Mutual Employee Retirement Plan reports $3.3B in end-of-year assets across 8,254 participants (0.026% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.009% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $394,268 per participant (2.9x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2024 was -$60M.
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 | Open filing |
| 2024 · index core | 8,254 | $3.3B | This page |
The same sponsor also keeps 3 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:
- 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 Msi Pension Plan in IL ($3.2B); by covered participants it is SEIU Local No. 4 Pension Fund in IL (8,277 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($3.3B here).
- Msi Pension Plan (IL) $3.2B · 1,913
- Hsbc - North America (U.S.) Pension Plan (IL) $3.3B · 2,447
- Cummins Pension Plan (IN) $3.2B · 30,640
- Emerson Electric Company Retirement Plan (MO) $3.3B · 2,467
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (8,254 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- SEIU Local No. 4 Pension Fund (IL) 8,277 · 23 off
- Nestle Pension Plan (OH) 8,291 · 37 off
- Operating Engineers' Local 324 Pension Fund (MI) 8,314 · 60 off
- Smithfield Foods Salaried Pension Plan (VA) 8,183 · 71 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.