This month in New York Life history—January.

2023

Jan. 17: New York Life Chief Executive Officer and President Craig DeSanto to become Chair of the Board.

2022

Jan. 18: New York Life’s Impact Investment Initiative commits $50 million in long-term capital to Century Housing Corporation.

2021

Jan. 25: New York Life announces expansion of its company bereavement benefit for employees.

2020

Jan. 28: New York Life Debuts 'Love Takes Action' Campaign for the Big Game as it celebrated its 175th anniversary.

2019

Jan. 29: The Dougy Center, a center for grieving children and families, received the largest grant in its 36-year history, courtesy of the NYL Foundation. The grant was for $1 million to be paid out over three years.

2015

Jan. 13: The New York Life Foundation and the Coalition to Support Grieving Students launched grievingstudents.org, a groundbreaking resource to help educators and school professionals support grieving students.

2007

Jan. 31: New York Life and AARP Financial jointly announced the AARP Lifetime Income Program, a program that offered fixed annuities, issued by New York Life Annuity Corporation, to provide guaranteed income for life to AARP members between the ages of 50 and 85.

1999

Jan. 20: The board of directors voted to keep New York Life a mutual company after considering a range of options, including demutualization. At the time, many other insurers had been demutualizing so they could sell stock and invest the proceeds in the booming securities markets.

Chairman, President and CEO Sy Sternberg explained NYL’s decision — after much consideration — not to follow suit: “We believe that the mutual structure ... underscores our focus on policyholders and our long-term commitment to their needs. The primary responsibility of a mutual insurance company is to ensure that the long-term benefits promised to its policyholders are secure and protected.”

The companies that did go public during this time would eventually face severe financial strains and demanding shareholders after the boom markets crashed. New York Life, whose obligation was to policy owners, would have no such problems.

1984

Jan. 19: MacKay-Shields Financial Corporation joined New York Life. Founded in 1938, the investment management firm would operate as an independent subsidiary. MacKay- Shields enhanced New York Life’s position in the pension fund market and would be crucial to New York Life’s entry into mutual funds.

1941

Jan. 1: George Harrison became the first CEO of New York Life. (He was also named company president the same day.) Although standard today, the term “Chief Executive Officer” is a relatively recent invention, and New York Life was an early adopter.

Harrison, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and previous head of the New York Federal Reserve, would usher in sweeping changes, including the formalization of agent training and a reorganization of the company that included the first formal budget system.

1933

Jan. 1: The first issue of the Nylic Review was published. Company president Thomas A. Buckner introduced it by noting that the monthly magazine “will be handsomely illustrated and will contain articles and information about Life Insurance that I believe will interest the agents in the field.”

RELATED CONTENT

Go back to our newsroom to read more stories.