I have heard that things there are dysfunctional, but this is bananas.
November 26, 2025 by Sheryl J. Moore
An article about Northwestern Mutual‘s recruiting and training of new agents…
I have heard that things there are dysfunctional, but this is bananas.
Everyone has likely heard of this:
A college grade attended his NWML “interview for his internship, [and] the questions felt more like a fraternity recruitment. How big was his family? What did his parents do? Where did he go to high school? He was sent away with ‘market information surveys’ to complete. The worksheets, seen by the Guardian [media group], required Jeremy [the recruit] to interview 10 friends or family members about their finances – listing their names, occupations, phone numbers, and asking each of them to refer him to 10 more people he could contact about their financial planning.”
And we all know about this:
A worksheet “required [the recruit] to interview 10 friends or family members about their finances – listing their names, occupations, phone numbers, and asking each of them to refer him to 10 more people he could contact about their financial planning.”
But I didn’t know this:
“New recruits [at NWML] were told to take out their phones, open their contacts, and upload at least 200 names into company software?”
Further:
“If the person on the phone agrees to meet, their financials are input into Northwestern’s software, which spits out a financial plan.”
>>>>>I am not sure that I want an insurance company to have all of my information; especially if I don’t want to do business with them!?!<<<<<
One recruit commented, “‘I felt gaslit,’ she says, describing the culture as ‘cultlike.’”
I’ve heard it!
“I don’t believe they’re recruiting people to succeed in a career,” [ said a] Northwestern adviser of 15 years. He thinks they are instead using young students and graduates to get new sales leads: ‘It’s gathering immense data and not paying for it.'”
Warning: there is plenty of whole life bashing in this piece. Inappropriate comparisons against the market…complaints about complexity (Lord- they must be ignorant about IUL)…ignorance about how life insurance works in general- it’s enough to make one angry.
Man- pieces like this are bad for everyone. –sjm
