Investing In Communities; Supporting Our Neighbors

The life insurance industry believes everyone, no matter their age, job, income, gender or race, deserves the chance to build financial certainty that will serve them in the good times and protect them in the hard times.

Every day, life insurers pay Washington residents $30.7 million in life insurance and annuity benefits. At the same time, life insurers generate 36,800 jobs in the Evergreen State.

Washington state residents work with life insurance companies to financially protect their families and their businesses. And they plan for the future, saving to ensure they have a financially secure retirement.

The premium dollars Washingtonians pay for life insurance, disability and long-term care insurance and the money they direct to life insurers for long-term financial security play a quiet but essential role in the state.

Life insurers use these funds to build, and rebuild, communities in the state. Life insurer investment sectors in Washington include:

Agriculture: Life insurers have provided more than $1.2 billion in financing for agricultural loans, helping new farmers obtain land and veteran farmers expand their operations.

Education: Life insurers have purchased $700 million in bonds issued by school districts in King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Spokane counties, and more.

Infrastructure: Life insurers have invested more than $250 million in bonds issued by the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority; $200 million for port-related bonds; and more than $2 billion for public utilities throughout the state responsible for handling sewage and providing clean water and power.

Industry: Life insurers have provided more than $2.6 billion in industrial loans for businesses in Bellevue, Spokane, Mount Vernon, Olympia and more.

Office Space: Life insurers have provided nearly $6 billion in financing for office space in the state, with major investments in Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue.

Apartments/Multifamily: Life insurers have invested more than $6.6 billion in mortgage loans – from Seattle to Spokane, and from Vancouver to Walla Walla.

Life insurers’ investments also are helping the state recover from challenges wrought by COVID-19 and wildfires that have devastated parts of the state.

Symetra has been investing and supporting our Washington neighbors for more than 60 years.

Washingtonians can expect life insurers to invest in the state even more in the future, and to continue to be there for them in times of need.

(Margaret Meister is President and CEO of Symetra Financial Corporation.)