Best Universal Life Insurance Companies of 2023

Not only is Northwestern Mutual the largest life insurance company with about 9.02% of the total market share, but it’s also one of the oldest insurers, having been founded in 1859.

The company sells traditional UL and variable universal life (VUL) policies. Like most UL policies, its Custom UL policy has a flexible death benefit and adjustable premiums and builds cash value on a tax-deferred basis. The company’s VUL policy is similar but lets you invest the cash value in a wide range of mutual-fund-like subaccounts with features like automatic portfolio rebalancing and automatic dollar-cost averaging. You can choose from 40 different investment funds to build your own portfolio or select pre-packed solutions that adhere to different asset allocation models.

The main drawbacks are that Northwestern provides fewer details on its website compared to most of its competitors, and you’ll need to look elsewhere for indexed universal life (IUL).

The company includes three living benefits—for chronic, critical, and terminal illnesses—at no upfront cost. It also makes a generous long-term care rider available should you want the option of using the death benefit for long-term care needs. 

Nationwide offers two variable universal life (VUL) policies—Variable Universal Life Accumulator and Variable Universal Life Protector—plus one designed exclusively for financial advisors. For an extended no-lapse guarantee rider, choose VUL Protector, and add it to your policy. You can get traditional UL and IUL insurance through Nationwide as well.

Applicants who meet certain criteria may be able to purchase it without a medical exam: Accelerated underwriting is available for individuals 18 to 50 applying for $100,000 to $5 million and for individuals 18 to 60 applying for $100,000 to $1 million.

We also like that Nationwide has excellent third-party ratings. The company is ranked sixth out of 22 companies and scored far above average for overall customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. It also has an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best.

Both of Mutual of Omaha’s IUL policies—Life Protection Advantage and Income Advantage—include living benefits for terminal and chronic illnesses plus a guaranteed refund option rider for eligible applicants. With Income Advantage, your cash value has the greatest potential for growth. Life Protection Advantage provides additional guarantees, such as short-term and long-term no-lapse protection riders.

You can also add a long-term care rider plus standard riders for a fee, such as a guaranteed insurability rider, a child term rider, a disability income rider, and an accidental death rider. The riders available will depend on the specific policy and your location. To get an IUL or UL policy from Mutual of Omaha, you must work with an agent to get a quote and apply. 

State Farm offers traditional UL policies for applicants up to age 85. You can customize your policy with a handful of riders, including a flexible care benefit, level term rider, children’s term rider, waiver of premium rider, and guaranteed insurability rider (these cost extra). Unfortunately, this policy doesn’t include any free living benefit riders, which is uncommon among our other top-rated companies.

Another thing we like about State Farm is its generous policy bundling discounts. You can qualify for savings if you purchase a life insurance and auto insurance policy together. According to State Farm, bundling your policies can save you up to $1,127 on the combined premium.

Via Penn Mutual’s Accelerated Client Experience (ACE) program, healthy applicants between 0 and 65 years old can qualify for up to $7.5 million without taking an exam. Accelerated underwriting is available on a variety of Penn Mutual UL policies, including Guaranteed Protection UL, Protection UL, Accumulation Builder Flex IUL, and Diversified Advantage VUL.

Eligible policies include terminal and chronic illness riders included at no upfront cost. Other endorsements are available, including an accidental death benefit rider, additional insured term rider, children’s term rider, and waiver of premium rider, for a fee.

In terms of third-party ratings, Penn Mutual fares well.  It has an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best and fewer complaints than expected for its size. However, the company doesn’t provide policy specifics on its consumer-facing website. We’d like to see more transparency so you can better compare products before supplying your personal information.