Mutual Trust is one of the few life insurance companies that offers dividend-paying whole life insurance. In this Mutual Trust review, we will examine the company’s history, products, and financial ratings in detail to assist our readers in determining whether MTL is the optimal option for them.

About Mutual Trust Life Insurance

Mutual Trust Life Insurance Company was established in 1904 and is headquartered in Illinois. The company markets itself as “The Whole Life Company,” and whole life insurance is its primary focus.

IBC

Given that Mutual Trust is a mutual company offering dividend-paying whole life insurance, many of its policies are designed for use with the infinite banking concept (IBC).

To highlight the company’s focus on IBC, it even mentions infinite banking on its website, which is a unique feature among life insurance companies.

Pan America

Mutual Trust’s parent company is the Pan-American Life Insurance Group, which has been operating since 1911. It markets life insurance, annuities, and other financial products and services throughout North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Mutual Company

Unlike many of the largest life insurance carriers that are shareholder-owned and publicly traded, Mutual Trust is organized as a mutual company. This means that the company is formally owned by its policyholders.

Mutual companies generally have a better reputation for customer service than their corporate competitors (though that can vary significantly from company to company).

Practically speaking, participating life insurance policies issued by mutual companies are eligible for dividends, which are essentially a small share of profits distributed to policyholders.

Dividends

While life insurance dividends are not guaranteed, and not all policies are eligible, dividend payments can be a significant benefit for policyholders who receive them.

Mutual Trust has a remarkable track record of paying dividends, with an ongoing streak of over 100 consecutive years. Almost all of its policies are eligible for dividends. For customers prioritizing dividends, Mutual Trust is worth considering.

Mutual Trust issues life insurance and annuities in all states except New York and the District of Columbia. Its products are marketed through a network of independent agents and financial planning professionals.

Mutual Trust Financial Ratings

A.M. Best: A
S&P: NR
Moody’s: NR
Fitch: A
Comdex Ranking: 79

Mutual Trust has a Comdex rating of 79, placing it in the top quarter of the highest-rated US life insurance companies.

The A rating from A.M. Best is robust, and Mutual Trust has seen its rating increase in recent years. This indicates that Mutual Trust is expanding and that the financial experts at A.M. Best believe that it is effectively managing its financial resources.

According to the latest annual report, Pan-American Life (Mutual Trust’s parent company) generated pre-tax earnings of $109 million in 2019. In 2019, the group’s total assets exceeded $6 billion.

Compared to some of the largest names in the insurance sector, Pan-American Life and Mutual Trust are moderate-sized, or even on the small side for top companies.

Nonetheless, the company has a solid track record, and policyholders face minimal risk that Mutual Trust will be financially incapable of meeting its policy commitments in the near future.

Mutual Trust Consumer Ratings:

Mutual Trust is not currently accredited by the Better Business Bureau, though the company does hold an A+ rating from BBB—meaning it usually responds timely to complaints lodged with BBB.  The customer reviews provided on BBB’s site provide too small of a sample size for a fair assessment of the company.

What Products Does Mutual Trust Offer?

Mutual Trust offers term life, whole life, and annuities.  Annuity options include single-premium deferred annuities and flexible-premium deferred annuities.

Additionally, Mutual Trust’s parent company, Pan-American Life, offers group and individual accident and health insurance and employee benefits administration for businesses.

Life Insurance from Mutual Trust:

Mutual Trust keeps its life insurance portfolio fairly straight-forward.  You can get term life, or you can get whole life.  There are no universal life products on offer.

Mutual Trust Whole Life Insurance:

Whole life insurance is Mutual Trust’s specialty, and they have four different policy options available.

All four feature a guaranteed-for-life death benefit, fixed premiums, and cash value that grows tax-deferred.

All four policies are participating insurance policies, which means that policyholders are eligible for dividends.

Horizon Value

This is whole life insurance designed for policyholders who want to prioritize cash-value accrual.

The policy is designed to allows for earlier cash-value accumulation with comparably lower premiums.

A built-in accelerated benefits rider lets the policyholder access policy proceeds early if the insured is diagnosed with a critical or terminal illness.

Horizon Guarantee

A whole life policy oriented toward the guaranteed death benefit.  Cash value grows slower than whole life policies, but you get a higher death benefit.

Basically, you get higher coverage for a comparably low premium, but sacrifice some early cash-value growth.  The accelerated benefits rider comes standard.

Horizon Blend

A whole life insurance policy with supplemental term coverage for 20 years. The structure allows for higher coverage early on, while still building long-term cash value.

The term portion of the policy can also be converted to whole life without additional underwriting.   The accelerated benefits rider comes standard with Horizon Blend.

Horizon Legacy

A single-premium whole life policy designed for estate planning.  Rather than paying fixed premiums for life or for a period of years, the policyholder pays a single lump-sum premium up front.

The structure can both build additional wealth for an estate and allow for tax-efficient transfer to heirs.

Mutual Trust’s whole life policies are available with a variety of supplemental riders.  Options include

• Two paid-up addition rider varieties (giving the policyholder the right to purchase supplemental coverage),
• a term rider (providing supplemental term coverage for ten years),
• disability riders (waiving premiums if the insured becomes disabled),
• a guaranteed purchase option (allowing the policyholder to purchase additional permanent policies at specified dates without underwriting),
• an accidental death rider (increasing coverage if the insured’s death results from a qualifying accident), and
• a children’s rider (providing ancillary coverage for the insured’s children under age 20).

Term Life Insurance from Mutual Trust:

Mutual Trust offers a single term policy, SelecTerm, available with initial terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years.

Premiums are fixed during a policy’s initial term, and then coverage can be renewed annually (through age 98) once the initial term concludes.

Term life premiums increase, often significantly, upon each renewal.

SelecTerm policies include a conversion option, allowing the policyholder to convert the term coverage to whole life without additional underwriting.  The conversion option can be exercised until the initial term expires or the insured reaches age 70 (whichever comes first).

At the end of the day…

While Mutual Trust Life Insurance Company offers dividend-paying whole life insurance policies and has a strong financial rating, it’s important to note that there are other insurance companies out there offering similar policies and benefits. While Mutual Trust might be the best choice for some, it’s always a good idea to shop around and compare policies, benefits, and rates from multiple insurance companies before making a final decision. Only by doing so can you be certain that you are getting the best policy for your unique needs and circumstances.