NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–New York Life, America’s largest mutual life insurer, today released the company’s 2019-2020 Corporate Responsibility Report. The report highlights how New York Life’s Corporate Responsibility strategy and priorities align with and reflect the company’s stakeholders – policy owners and clients, employees and financial professionals, communities, and service providers.

In his introduction to the report, New York Life CEO Ted Mathas writes, “When you’re in business for 175 years, people often wonder how you are able to do it and what sets you apart. While many factors play into longevity, looking back at New York Life’s history, nothing else has distinguished us more than the fact that we have remained a mutual company. This decision continues to define who we are and guides our decisions and actions in our business and our broader responsibilities in society…While the products and services we offer deliver the social good of financial security, our corporate responsibility initiatives are also closely tied to our business purpose.”

The report highlights New York Life’s progress across the company’s four corporate responsibility priorities which include:

Our People

• Talent Attraction, Retention, and Development: Developing and supporting our employees and agents through training and benefits.
• Diversity and Inclusion: Cultivating and supporting a workforce that is diverse in background and thought.

Our Communities

• Community Engagement: Empowering our communities and giving back through our time, talent, and resources.
• Financial Security and Inclusion: Ensuring financial stability is accessible, sustainable and offering responsible products and investments.

Our Environment

• Emissions Reductions: Taking responsibility for minimizing our carbon footprint and reducing emissions where possible.
• Energy Reductions: Committing to protecting the environment and reducing consumption.

Our Governance

• Ethics: Upholding the highest standards of ethical behavior and best practices in our operations and governance.
• Public Policy Practices: Responsibly and transparently engaging with the government to promote informed public policy.
• Data Privacy and Cybersecurity: Protecting private information and personal data against all attacks.

In addition to reporting on these priorities, the 2019-2020 Corporate Responsibility Report also details New York Life’s COVID-19 response including:

• Establishing the Brave of Heart Fund at E4E Relief, which provides financial support in the form of charitable relief grants to help the families of healthcare workers who lose their lives to COVID-19.
• Enabling New York Life agents and employees to nominate extraordinary community members who embody the value of love taking action in the face of COVID-19 for the Love Takes Action Awards. Thirty-five community members from across the nation were honored and each honoree selected a nonprofit to receive a $50,000 grant, amounting to a total of $1.75 million—to mark New York Life’s 175th anniversary.
• Ensuring the safety and security of employees, agents and policy owners through programs and commitments designed to help these stakeholders navigate the pandemic with confidence.

Mathas continued, “I’m proud of the work we’ve done on these fronts…But the bar is always getting higher, and we know we must continue to raise it for ourselves. Our value of integrity means doing the right thing no matter what. And we are humbly confident that we will continue to learn from experience to better support and uplift each other, our communities, and society at large for generations to come.”

To view New York Life’s 2019-2020 Corporate Responsibility Report, visit https://www.newyorklife.com/foundation/corporate-social-responsibility

About New York Life

New York Life Insurance Company (www.newyorklife.com), a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States* and one of the largest life insurers in the world. Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life has the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any U.S. life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies**.

*Based on revenue as reported by “Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual),” Fortune magazine, 5/18/20. For methodology, please see http://fortune.com/fortune500/.
**Individual independent rating agency commentary as of 9/12/19: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody’s Investors Service (Aaa), Standard & Poor’s (AA+).