10 Biggest Life Insurance Companies in the USA by Market Cap in 2024

The top life insurance companies in the US are producing profitable business opportunities and covering people’s well-being through their whole life and permanent life insurance policies.

By examining their business models and strategies, you can better understand how to expand your reach and enhance customer satisfaction for your business.

Here at Business2Community, we’ve created a list of the biggest life insurance companies based on market cap in the US in 2024. Whether you’re an investor, an entrepreneur, or a stock trader, this list gives you a better idea of which firms may be promising investments and where to take your business cues from.

What Makes a Great Insurance Company?

A great insurance company combines comprehensive coverage, strong financial stability, and exceptional customer service.

Key factors include:

• Diverse Coverage Options: Offering a variety of policies to meet different needs, such as term, whole, and universal life insurance.
• Financial Strength: High market cap and solid revenue streams indicating stability and reliability.
• Customer Satisfaction: High ratings in customer service and claims handling, ensuring client trust and loyalty.
• Innovation: Utilizing technology to enhance user experience, streamline operations, and offer value-added services.
• Reputation: Positive industry reputation and strong brand recognition.

The USA’s Biggest Life Insurance Companies

Since 2017, the life insurance market in the US has been growing steadily. In 2024, the US market was estimated to be worth $1.27 trillion. The number is projected to reach $1.47 trillion by 2028, illustrating a CAGR of 3.72%.

The average life insurance cost per user was $3,720 in 2024.

With the US life insurance market thriving, you can seize the opportunity to make the right investment decisions and enter the market or learn from the companies navigating growth in a competitive landscape.

To help you understand the life insurance sector, below is the list of the US’s best life insurance companies by market cap. Using market cap as an index gives an objective overview of the value of each company and its prospects.

1. UnitedHealth – $454.80 Billion

UnitedHealth sits on top of our list of the largest health and life insurance companies by market cap with a market value of $454.80 billion as of March 2024. It is also the world’s 18th biggest company by market cap.

Headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, UnitedHealth was originally created as UnitedHealthcare in 1977 before changing its name to UnitedHealth Group in 1998. Currently, the UnitedHealth Group owns two subsidiaries, Optum and UnitedHealthcare, which deliver various financial planning services, life insurance policies, and other coverages for clients.

The company achieved its first breakthrough in 1997 when the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) chose it to provide life insurance coverage and medical assistance to its members. To this day, UnitedHealth continues to serve the AARP with its life insurance and health products.

UnitedHealth mainly targets employers with its life insurance packages. The packages cover life insurance, critical illness support, dental plans, and other health coverage for firms to better support their employees. The insurance group also offers individual life insurance plans for individuals at different life stages.

In February 2024, the technology unit under UnitedHealth, Change Healthcare, was attacked by cybercriminals. As a result, the company had to pay around $2 billion at the time of writing to healthcare providers and life insurers affected by the attack and there is evidence a large ransom was also paid.

2. Progressive – $120.79 Billion

With a market cap of $120.79 billion at the time of writing, Progressive is a leading life insurance provider in the US best known for its motor, life, and pet insurance policies.

Starting out as an automobile insurance company in 1937, Progressive grew quickly due to its utilization of digital tools and timely support to enhance customer satisfaction and began providing insurance coverage in other segments.

Progressive has 4 life insurance policy types, including a term life insurance policy, a final expense insurance policy, a short-term life insurance policy, a whole life insurance policy, and even the universal life insurance policy, offering various choices for clients to buy life insurance policies with the most suitable cash value and costs.

In 2022, the company had 24.7 million active policies under its belt. Its 2023 net premiums written exceed $61.60 billion, up 20% from its 2022 figures.

3. Elevance Health – $119.82 Billion

In 2004, Wellpoint Inc. was formed following the merger of Anthem Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc., which was valued at $16.5 billion. A decade later in 2014, Wellpoint Inc. changed its name to Anthem and finally became Elevance Health in 2022 after a corporate rebrand.

Elevance Health expanded its life operations through mergers and acquisitions. In 1996, it acquired the group life and disability unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance for $380 million. The next year, it bought the life and health business of John Hancock Mutual Insurance Co. for $86.7 million.

As one of the largest life insurance companies in terms of customer volume, Elevance Health served 48 million medical clients in 2023, consolidating its leading position in the permanent and universal life insurance market.

At the beginning of 2023, the StanCorp Financial Group, another US-based leading life insurance company that offers universal life insurance policies and financial security products, Inc. announced it would combine its life insurance and disability care segments with Elevenace Health.

That same year, Elevance Health announced the acquisition of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, a deal that was valued at $2.5 billion, although the acquisition was put on hold as of February 2024 when the Blue Cross withdrew its filing with the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

Its operating revenue exceeded $170 billion in 2023, representing a $14.5 billion increase from 2022.

4. Cigna – $100.36 Billion

In 1982, the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company merged with the Insurance Company of North America to form what is now known as Cigna, one of the largest life insurance companies in the US by market cap.

Cigna specializes in health and life insurance, providing customers with financial stability in case of sudden deaths and medical emergencies. Its whole life insurance policies cover funeral expenses, death benefit packages for family members, and guaranteed cash value and premium. Its life insurance rates start at $28 a month, making it an affordable choice for senior members.

Cigna mostly combines its life insurance packages with healthcare services. In 2018, it purchased the leading pharmacy benefit management company, Express Scripts, for $67 billion to expand its market share.

Since the acquisition, Cigna has experienced a drastic rise in revenue, from $48.57 billion in 2018 to $153.74 billion the following year.

The company recorded a total revenue of $195.26 billion in 2023, an 8.17% increase from 2022’s $180.52 billion.

5. MetLife – $53.04 Billion

The history of MetLife dates back to 1863, when the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company was established, which provided accidental and permanent life insurance policies for Civil War soldiers.

Five years later in 1868, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, also known as MetLife, was officially founded. Fast forward to 1991 and the company became the first insurance firm to reach $1 trillion in life insurance premiums in North America, making it the biggest life insurance company in terms of premium value.

From variable universal life insurance to permanent life insurance to term life insurance, MetLife offers flexibility to its customers when buying life insurance to offer the most comprehensive coverage and gain a larger market share.

The US remained the biggest market for the multinational life insurance plan provider as of 2022, with the US segment generating just shy of $3 billion in revenue, followed by the Asia market at $1.38 billion.

In the last decade, MetLife has seen a relatively stable annual revenue trend. In 2023, its total revenue was $66.91 billion, a slight decline from 2022’s $68.77 billion.

6. American International Group – $52.70 Billion

Next on our list, we have the American International Group, another one of the top life insurance companies based in New York, with a market cap of $52.70 billion.

The American International Group is an international universal life insurance company that was founded in Shanghai, China, in 1919 by American businessman Cornelius Vander Starr as the American Asiatic Underwriters.

Following the grotesque Japanese invasion of China at the dawn of the Second World War, Starr moved his business to New York. In 1967, the American International Group was officially incorporated in Delaware. The company would subsequently go public two years later.

The American International Group offers a wide range of universal life policies to enhance customer satisfaction and protect consumers with permanent coverage and death benefit coverage.

In 2022, Corebridge Financial Inc., the life insurance and retirement division of the American International Group, held its initial public offering and raised $1.68 billion at $21 per share. All proceeds in the initial public offering would go into the American International Group. The separation allowed the parent company to focus on its casualty insurance business while the division continued to refine its life insurance offerings.

For the 2023 fiscal year, the life and retirement division of the American International Group reported $40 billion in total premiums and deposits. The company also ranked first among other life insurers in the American Customer Satisfaction Index with a score of 82.

7. Allstate – $42.66 Billion

Founded in 1931 as an auto insurance business, Allstate began offering whole life insurance, universal life insurance, and other life insurance products in the 1950s. Since then, Allstate has grown to become one of the top life insurance companies in the US by market cap.

In 2022, in a strategic attempt to increase the company’s market share in the personal property segment, Allstate sold its Allstate Life Insurance Company, which held around 80% ($23 billion) of life insurance businesses for the company, to Blackstone for $2.8 billion.

Although the move took away the majority of Allstate’s life insurance businesses, the company remains one of the largest life insurance companies by offering universal life insurance, term life insurance, and other life insurance offerings through Allstate Benefits.

In 2023, Allstate reported a net loss of $316 million, despite a total revenue of $57 billion. The losses have been attributed to catastrophe claims, with 42 events that were paid out in Q3 2023.

8. Prudential Financial – $41.55 Billion

Founded by John F. Dryden in 1873, Prudential Financial was initially named the Widows and Orphans Friendly Society and changed its name to The Prudential Friendly Society two years later before finally settling on Prudential Financial in 1877.

In 2013, Prudential Financial bought the individual life insurance business from The Hartford for $615 million in cash. The move allowed the company to gain 700,000 life policies from Hartford, totaling $135 billion and consolidating its status as an industry leader.

Prudential Financial offers a full range of life insurance coverage, including variable universal life insurance, indexed universal life insurance, whole life insurance, term life insurance, and more, providing convenience for life insurance policyholders, covering different stages of the entire life of its members.

The life insurance company had been under scrutiny for how it was rejecting claims due to a lack of insurability for people paying life insurance premiums through workplace schemes. The US Department of Labor settled with Prudential in 2o23, ordering it to change how it settles life insurance claims.

As of March 2024, the company had a market cap of $41.55 billion.

9. Erie Insurance – $21.16 Billion

Erie Insurance began its operations in 1925 as an auto insurance company. It later expanded its services and the the Erie Family Life Insurance Company was formed in 1967. Within 3 months, Erie saw a total premium of $5 million in life insurance.

By 2009, the company already held more than 4 million active policies. Today, Erie is one of the biggest term life insurance companies by market cap in the US, at $21.16 billion.

The Erie Family Life Insurance Company holds a rating of A (Excellent) from AM Best, an insurance service company that produces financial strength ratings for insurers. Erie Insurance operates in 12 states with over 6 billion active insurance.

Erie Insurance offers various life insurance services. From college savings to funeral expenses to business planning, it is able to draw in tons of customers with its diverse coverage.

In 2023, the company reported a net income of $446.1 million, up from $298.6 million in 2022.

10. Principal – $20.02 Billion

Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Principal is a global insurance company focusing on retirement planning, asset management, and life insurance. Its services are available in all 50 states. It offers various life insurance products to business owners, employees, and their family members.

Together with its life insurance plans, Principal offers investment and financial products to businesses, providing a one-stop insurance shop for firms.

Historically, Principal‘s annual revenue aligned with the growth of the US economy. Overall, it has experienced a stable revenue growth rate in the last 20 years, except for a decline during the 2008 economic turmoil and the 2020 global pandemic crisis.

In order to better understand customer behavior to tailor the most suitable products, Principal announced at the beginning of 2024 that it was going to partner with Percayso Inform, a global market intelligence firm, to utilize AI and identify “a customer’s likelihood of canceling a policy mid-term”. The collaboration allows Principal to refine its insurance packages and adjust premiums.

Top 10 Life Insurance Companies in the World

In 2024, the global life insurance market was valued at $3.67 trillion. The number will continue to grow to $3.92 trillion by 2028, illustrating a CAGR of 1.66%. The US generated the biggest gross written premium of $1.27 trillion, followed by China at $439 billion and Japanese insurance companies at $260 billion.

To get an edge in the life insurance sector, the industry leaders all have strong financial strength ratings and offer satisfactory cash value for their clients. Learning about these trendsetters helps you formulate smarter strategies and grow your reach. Here is the list of the top 10 life insurance businesses in the world.

1. UnitedHealth – $454.80 billion – Biggest insurance company in the world overall
2. Progressive – $120.79 billion – Provide flexible life insurance offerings for all stages of life
3. Elevance Health – $119.82 billion – Offers comprehensive health and life insurance packages
4. Allianz – $115.68 billion – Combine asset management and financial consultation services to enhance financial stability for family members out of Germany
5. Chubb – $103.67 billion – Offer accelerated death benefit and investment products to increase cash value, based in Switzerland
6. Cigna – $100.36 billion – Affordable life insurance packages for seniors
7. Ping An Insurance – $92.11 billion – First asset owner in China to join UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
8. China Life Insurance – $90.76 billion – Largest insurance firm in China by market share
9. AXA – $84.35 Billion – French company offering all-rounded insurance coverage
10. AIA Group – $80.52 Billion – Based in Hong Kong, offers premium rebates through the AIA Vitality program

Learning From the Biggest Life Insurance Companies in the US

These industry leaders in the life insurance field drive market growth and attract billions of clients with their thoughtful, comprehensive offerings. From permanent life insurance to whole life insurance, these firms provide flexibility to enhance customer satisfaction and encourage new users to purchase life insurance.

Aside from personalizing products for customers to gain a larger market share, the life insurance offered also provides attractive cash value to users. In addition, many of these firms have been able to expand their businesses through mergers and acquisitions, a vital tactic that enabled them to gain more market share. Being able to spot a good opportunity to consolidate insurance books has offered growth opportunities, which is a lesson all good business owners can take away from larger organizations.

With the insights gained from this article, you can now refine your expansion strategies and investment tactics to stay ahead of the game and become a powerful candidate in the life insurance sector.

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