New York Life's Strategic Reorganization Drives Key Executive Appointments

New York Life (New York) has reorganized into two major business units: the Insurance Group and the Investment Group. Executive VP Chris Blunt and Executive VP John Y. Kim, respectively, will run the new business units, which a company statement says will provide protection, wealth accumulation, and guaranteed income products and solutions. Executive VP Mark Pfaff will continue to run New York Life's Agency Department.

Blunt, who has headed New York Life's Retirement Income Security (RIS) business since its formation in 2008, will now run the the company's core insurance business. New York Life leads the industry in new life insurance premium written, with a market share of 11.7 percent in the United States. Blunt will also be responsible for the company's long-term care insurance business and the marketing, finance, technology, and service functions that support those product lines.

Kim, the company's chief investment officer and head of New York Life Investments, will assume additional responsibility for RIS products and solutions, which is being combined with New York Life Investments. New York Life is a leader in providing guaranteed lifetime income, with a 27.8 percent market share in fixed immediate annuities. The company's other popular solutions include fixed deferred annuities and variable annuities. New York Life Investments, which Mr. Kim has led since 2008, has $285 billion in assets under management. The combined businesses will operate as New York Life's Investments Group.

Executive VP Mark Pfaff, who has who has run the Agency Department since 2006 and had additional responsibility for life insurance since 2008, will continue to run the company's agency force of 12,000 career agents, which the company regards as one of its chief market differentiators. Life insurance sales through the company's career agency system have increased 32 percent since 2006 and agency manpower has increased 29 percent since that time, according to the carrier.

"This strategic alignment maintains our industry-leading life insurance business as our flagship core business, enhances the prospects of New York Life becoming a true leader in retirement solutions beyond income annuities, where we lead today, and keeps career agency as our defining core distribution system going forward, as it has been throughout our history," comments Ted Mathas, chairman and CEO, New York Life. "We are confident that these moves will enable us to continue to generate strong growth across our business lines, add consumer benefits to our products and solutions, and enhance the long-term strength of our company, all to the benefit of our millions of policyholders."

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio