Securian Financial life insurance

Overview

Securian Financial is the marketing name of Securian Financial Group, the St. Paul, Minnesota, company whose life insurers are Minnesota Life Insurance Company and Securian Life Insurance Company. The NAIC files the group as "Minnesota Mutual" after its ultimate parent, Minnesota Mutual Companies, Inc., a mutual holding company owned by its members rather than by stock investors. Minnesota Life itself is a stock subsidiary, but none of that stock is publicly traded.

The group ranked #21 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $2.05 billion in premiums and a 1.31% share. Individual policies are only part of the business. Securian is also a large writer of employer group life insurance and of coverage sold through banks, credit unions, auto dealers and lenders, such as credit life and mortgage protection. The company reports nearly $1.7 trillion of life insurance in force, more than 23 million customers in North America and $8.7 billion of GAAP revenue for 2025, and it ranked #457 on the June 2026 Fortune 500. Citing AM Best data, it calls itself the seventh-largest U.S. life insurer by 2025 life insurance in force.

For individual life insurance, Securian sells mainly universal life in indexed and variable versions, plus term, through independent financial professionals, brokerage agencies and broker-dealers.

History

According to the company, Russell Dorr founded the business in St. Paul on August 6, 1880, as the Bankers Association of Minnesota, the state's first life insurance company. It reorganized as a mutual in 1901 and took the name Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company, which it kept for almost a century. It issued its first group life policy in 1917. In 1959 it began selling loan protection through savings and loan associations, the start of its credit union and lender business.

In 1971 Minnesota Mutual introduced Adjustable Life, which it describes as the first flexible life insurance policy. It set up its broker-dealer, Securian Financial Services, in 1984 and launched variable life and annuity products in 1988. In 1998 it adopted a mutual holding company structure and the Minnesota Life name, and in 2001 it introduced the Securian brand.

Acquisitions broadened the group. Securian bought Allied Solutions, a major distributor to credit unions, in 2004, and took a majority stake in the insurance asset manager Asset Allocation & Management (AAM) in 2014. It entered Canada in 2017 by buying Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company, renamed Securian Canada in 2023. It added Empyrean Benefit Solutions, a benefits-administration firm, in 2019.

Since 2022 it has narrowed its focus. It sold its retirement plan recordkeeping business to Standard Insurance Company (The Standard) in a deal completed in December 2022, and it agreed in January 2023 to sell its retail wealth management business to Cetera Financial Group. The company says it paid $1.3 billion in COVID-related death benefits to more than 19,000 families during the pandemic. Chris Hilger, who joined with the Allied Solutions acquisition, has been CEO since 2015 and is now chairman, president and CEO.

Life insurance products

Securian's individual life lineup leans toward cash value products sold through advisors:

• Indexed universal life: Eclipse Accumulator II IUL, built for accumulating cash value, and Eclipse Protector II IUL, built for lifetime death benefit protection. Interest credits follow a market index without direct market investment. See Indexed universal life (IUL) explained.
• Variable universal life: VUL Defender, a protection-focused design with a lifetime guaranteed death benefit option, and Premier VUL, aimed at accumulation. Cash value goes into investment subaccounts and can lose value. See Variable universal life (VUL) insurance.
• Survivorship: Eclipse Survivor II IUL and a survivorship VUL, which insure two people and pay at the second death, typically for estate planning.
• Term: Advantage Elite Select, a level-term product with a choice of coverage periods, and a Convertible Annual Renewable Term policy with renewable premiums for up to 10 years. The company's consumer page says terms generally run 10 to 30 years and that term policies may be convertible to permanent coverage.
• Hybrid life/long-term care: universal life with built-in long-term care benefits. The company says premiums and benefits are guaranteed and that a return of premium is available if the policy is canceled.

Its consumer site also describes fixed universal life and whole life, but the current individual life lineup it shows advisors is the indexed, variable, survivorship and term policies above. The company says it offers both traditional and accelerated underwriting.

Securian calls its riders "agreements." They include accelerated death benefits for terminal and chronic illness, a tax-qualified Long-Term Care Agreement, waiver of premium, a guaranteed insurability option, overloan protection, no-lapse guarantee agreements for its indexed and variable policies, and term riders.

Other products

Minnesota Life also sells fixed, fixed indexed and immediate annuities, and it offers institutional retirement solutions to pension plan sponsors. For employers it offers group term and group universal life, AD&D, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity coverage. For banks, credit unions, auto dealers and lenders it provides credit life insurance: what it is and when it's worth it, credit disability and involuntary unemployment coverage, mortgage life and disability insurance, and vehicle service contracts, much of it distributed through its Allied Solutions affiliate.

Buying and service

You cannot buy an individual Securian policy directly online. The company says its insurance products are purchased through a financial professional or offered through an employer, financial institution or association. Policyholders can register for an online account to view individual life and annuity contracts. Individual life and annuity service by phone runs 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central time Monday to Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

If your coverage came through a bank, credit union or finance company, Securian's contact page says it does not service that coverage directly. Use the contact information on your statement or ask the institution. Employer coverage is handled through the group benefits line or the LifeBenefits enrollment site.

Claims

Death claims go through Securian's online Benefit Service Center, which asks where the coverage came from (an agent or advisor, an employer, or a lender or financial institution) so it can send the claim to the right team. Beneficiaries can report a new claim, check claim status with a claim number, and upload supporting documents securely. The center's phone number is 800-328-9442, its fax is 877-494-8401, and its mailing address is PO Box 64114, St. Paul, MN 55164-0114. Beneficiaries should have the policy number and a certified death certificate ready. Our how to file a life insurance claim guide covers the general steps. Securian reports paying $5.8 billion in policyholder benefits in 2025 across all its lines.

Ratings and reputation

In the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, released in October 2026, which measures customer satisfaction with buying and owning a policy, Securian ranked 18th of 23 brands with 615 points against a study average of 649 (it was 17th in 2025).

On December 4, 2025, AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) financial strength rating of Minnesota Life and Securian Life with a stable outlook. It cited balance sheet strength it assesses as "strongest," strong operating performance and a favorable business profile. Securian's ratings page, current as of December 2025, also lists AA (Very Strong) from Fitch, Aa3 from Moody's and AA- from S&P (fourth-highest of 21 ratings). In 2023 AM Best gave Minnesota Life a "Standing the Test of Time" award for holding an A or higher rating for 75 years. See AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explained for how the scales compare.

Minnesota Life files public prospectuses with the SEC for its variable life accounts, which give detailed fee and fund information for VUL buyers who want to compare policies before buying.

Who it suits

Securian fits buyers who already work with an independent advisor or broker-dealer and want indexed or variable universal life, survivorship coverage for estate planning, or permanent coverage with long-term care or chronic illness benefits, from a group with very high ratings and no outside shareholders. Many people already have Securian coverage without choosing it, through an employer plan or a loan, and should know who handles those claims. It is a weaker fit for someone who wants to buy simple term coverage online in minutes, or who wants a dividend-paying participating whole life policy from an agent.

• Strengths: A+ (AM Best, December 2025), AA (Fitch) and Aa3 (Moody's) ratings; ownership by a mutual holding company with no public shareholders; a broad lineup of indexed, variable and survivorship policies with long-term care and chronic illness options; very large group and financial-institution operations.
• Weaknesses: no direct online purchase of individual policies; the product shelf is built around complex universal life policies that need careful illustration review; coverage bought through lenders is serviced by third parties, which can confuse beneficiaries.

How to contact Securian Financial