The order depends on whether you count the surplus note in the capitalization ratio calculation. NY Life issued a $1 billion surplus note at the end of last year with interest rate of 6.75% mature in Nov 2039. This was included in the surplus on the consolidated balance sheet in 2009. I agree with the comment that they paid the lowest dividend as % of earnings among the big four.
Full disclosure published 2010’s whole life historical performance report. This report is useful because it shows the actual performance rather than illustrated values.
20 year actual IRR on cash value ($250K DB, male NS preferred, age 45).
NML: 5.11%
Savings Bank Life of MA: 5.11% (anyone knows about this company?)
NYL: 4.17%
Mass Mutual: 3.74%
Guardian: 3.59%
One thing to note is that the more premium it can be put into the policy under the same DB, the higher the IRR if everything else is the same. NML’s premium is the highest, $5815/year. Other companies’ premiums are in the range of $4700 to $4800. SBLM has the lowest premium ($4388) and the highest IRR on CV.
SBLI sells cheap term too, among the cheapest of any company for Preferred Plus cases...