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John Schlifske, chairman, cresident and CEO of Northwestern Mutual

Life Health > Life Insurance > Permanent Life Insurance

Northwestern Mutual Names Its Next CEO

By Allison Bell

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The Northwestern Mutual board has picked Tim Gerend to succeed John Schlifske as the company’s next chairman and chief executive officer.

Schlifske, 64, is about to reach the Milwaukee-based company’s mandatory retirement age. He plans to give up the CEO post Dec. 31 and step down from his position as chairman of the board in January 2025.

Gerend, 52, the company’s executive vice president and chief distribution officer, is on track to become president, take up the CEO title Jan. 1, 2025, and become chairman later in January 2025.

The company: Northwestern Mutual is a policyholder-owned mutual insurer that was founded in 1857.

It has about $570 billion in assets under management and advisement, $2.2 trillion in life insurance benefits in force and 8,000 advisors.

Schlifske: Schlifske, who took over from Edward Zore as the company’s CEO in 2010 led the company through recovery from the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gerend: Gerend has a bachelor’s degree from Butler University and a law degree from Notre Dame. He has been working for Northwestern Mutual since 2002.

He became chief distribution officer in 2018, and the company kept him in that role in 2019, when it realigned its executive team.

He has served on the advisory board for the Center for Ethics in Financial Services and on the CFP Board’s Center for Financial Planning.

Northwestern Mutual has been known for its use of career agent-advisors, a focus on sales of the kinds of whole life insurance policies often used in high-end estate planning, and a holistic approach to planning.

Gerend noted in a comment about his new role that he has watched Northwestern Mutual become “an integrated financial security company providing insurance and wealth management.”

John Schlifske. Credit: Northwestern Mutual

Allison Bell

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