Pacific Life life insurance

Overview

Pacific Life is a Newport Beach, California, life insurance and annuity company that sells mainly permanent life insurance, especially indexed universal life (IUL) and variable universal life, through independent financial professionals. The Pacific Life group ranked #8 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $5.17 billion in premiums and a 3.31% market share.

Pacific Life is not publicly traded. Since 1997 it has been organized under a mutual holding company: Pacific Mutual Holding Company, whose members are policyholders, owns Pacific LifeCorp, which owns Pacific Life Insurance Company. The company reports $1.6 trillion of life insurance in force, $25 billion of benefits paid in 2025 and $275 billion in GAAP assets at the end of 2025. Its legal home is Nebraska, with operations in Omaha, and Pacific Life & Annuity Company, an Arizona company, issues policies in New York.

Pacific Life does not sell directly to consumers. Policies are sold through independent financial professionals, and Fitch describes its competitive position in the affluent market as strong.

History

The Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California was founded in Sacramento in 1868. Leland Stanford, the railroad executive and former California governor, was its first president and was presented policy number 1 on May 9, 1868. The home office moved to San Francisco in 1881, then to Los Angeles after the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed it.

In 1936, losses on popular noncancellable disability policies led California's insurance commissioner to order the company reorganized. It recovered and issued its first group pension annuity contract in 1941. The home office moved to Newport Beach in 1972. Beginning in 1983 Pacific Life shifted from a career agency sales force to the independent brokerage model it uses today. In 1992 it won the right to rehabilitate the failed First Capital Life Insurance Company, taking on protection of that insurer's policyholders. It spun off its investment management subsidiary, PIMCO, in 1994.

Pacific Life became part of a mutual holding company structure in 1997 and moved its legal domicile to Nebraska in 2005. It bought Scottish Re Group in 2008 to form its reinsurance arm, Pacific Life Re. In 2016 it purchased a term life platform and opened a business center in Lynchburg, Virginia. According to Fitch, Pacific Life launched a workplace benefits business in 2023, which sells dental, vision, life, disability and supplemental health coverage through employers. Darryl Button is president and CEO.

Life insurance products

Pacific Life's lineup is built around permanent coverage.

• Indexed universal life credits interest based partly on stock market indexes, with guaranteed floors that protect cash value from index losses (but not from policy charges). Current products include Pacific Horizon IUL 2, Pacific Horizon ECV IUL (designed for high early cash value, often for business owners), Pacific Trident IUL, and two survivorship versions for couples: Pacific Horizon Survivorship IUL 2 and Pacific Indexed Estate Preserver 3. Horizon IUL 2 includes a no-lapse guarantee to age 90 for eligible insureds 79 and under. It offers an optional Enhanced Performance Factor rider that can raise index crediting for an extra monthly charge. See IUL pros and cons: what the sales pitch leaves out before buying, since illustrations depend on assumed cap rates.
• Variable universal life (Pacific Select Harbor VUL, Pacific Admiral VUL 2, Pacific Legacy Survivorship VUL) invests cash value in market subaccounts alongside fixed options with a guaranteed minimum rate.
• Universal life: Pacific Venture UL 2 offers three coverage designs, and PL Promise GUL is guaranteed universal life with no-lapse guarantees to an age the buyer picks, from 90 to 121.
• Term: Pacific Elite Term comes in 10-, 20- and 30-year level periods with a $250,000 minimum. It can be converted without new underwriting to an eligible Pacific Life permanent policy during a conversion period ending at the earlier of 10 years or age 70 (but at least two years). A conversion credit may apply from the second policy year. An optional Conversion Extension rider runs the conversion period to the end of the level period or age 70. In California, Pacific Life sells PL Promise Term in 10-, 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-year versions instead.

Term living benefits include a standard terminal illness rider, plus optional chronic illness and critical illness riders that pay part of the death benefit early, and an optional waiver of premium for disability before 65. Permanent policies offer the Premier LTC rider for long-term care, the Premier Living Benefits rider and chronic illness riders. Rider availability varies by state; several term riders are not offered in California.

Other products

Pacific Life is a large annuity writer, selling variable, fixed indexed, fixed, immediate, deferred income and registered index-linked annuities. It also handles pension risk transfer, in which it takes over company pensions, as well as structured settlements, stable value products and workplace benefits. Pacific Life Re reinsures other insurers in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Asia.

Buying and service

You buy Pacific Life coverage through a financial professional. The website lists products by state and points buyers to financial professionals rather than offering online applications. This model suits people who want an advisor to design an IUL, VUL or estate-planning policy and compare it with other carriers' products. It is less convenient for someone who simply wants an inexpensive term policy online.

Policyowners can manage coverage through the life insurance account portal at life.myaccount.pacificlife.com and download service forms for beneficiary, ownership, loan, withdrawal and billing changes. Life insurance customer service is at 800-347-7787, weekdays 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. Mail goes to P.O. Box 2030, Omaha, NE 68103-2030. Policies with a number beginning "2L" are serviced by the Lynchburg operation at 844-276-0193.

Claims

To report a death on an individual policy, beneficiaries can call life insurance customer service at 800-347-7787 (844-276-0193 for policies numbered "2L"), write to P.O. Box 2030, Omaha, NE 68103-2030, or work through the policyowner's financial professional. As with most insurers, expect to provide a certified death certificate and a claim form from each beneficiary; the guide how to file a life insurance claim covers the general steps. Group life claims through an employer go through Pacific Life Workforce Benefits at 855-810-3301.

Ratings and reputation

Pacific Life's insurers carry high ratings from all four major agencies. AM Best affirmed its A+ (Superior) financial strength rating on December 11, 2025. Moody's affirmed its Aa3 rating on August 18, 2026, citing a strong market position and robust capital, but also noted above-industry holdings of lower-quality investment-grade bonds and sensitivity to variable annuity risk. S&P rated the life companies AA- (stable) in a March 16, 2026 report, while noting that Pacific Life's statutory return on assets has trailed similarly rated peers. Fitch's August 27, 2026 report shows an AA- insurer financial strength rating with a stable outlook and a 536% risk-based capital ratio at Pacific Life Insurance Company.

In the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, released in October 2026, Pacific Life ranked 17th of 23 brands with 630 points, below the 649 study average and down from 10th in 2025.

Who it suits

Pacific Life suits buyers who have an advisor and want a permanent policy designed for cash value accumulation, estate planning or business uses. It offers deep IUL and VUL shelves, survivorship policies and guaranteed UL, backed by AA-range ratings and no public shareholders. It suits people less well if they want to buy online, want participating whole life with dividends, or want small policies, since its term product starts at $250,000 outside California.

• Strengths: AA- or equivalent ratings from S&P, Moody's (Aa3) and Fitch, plus A+ from AM Best; mutual holding company structure with no stock price pressure; broad IUL, VUL and survivorship lineup; term conversion with a conversion credit.
• Weaknesses: No direct or online purchase; no whole life; IUL and VUL values depend on index caps, charges and market returns that illustrations only project; S&P flags below-peer statutory profitability and Moody's flags above-industry holdings of lower-quality investment-grade bonds; term coverage starts at $250,000 outside California.

How to contact Pacific Life