Nationwide reports 2022 record sales and growth amid challenging conditions

Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide—one of the largest and most diversified insurance and financial services companies in the United States—reported 2022 earnings results today, reflecting one of the strongest performances in the company’s 96-year history. 

These results were achieved while paying nearly $19 billion in claims and benefits to its members in a year marked by high inflation, rising interest rates, volatile equity markets and severe weather.

Another year for the record books
Total sales for the Columbus-based mutual insurance and financial services company were a record $57 billion, $4 billion over 2021—which was also a record year.

Nationwide’s key measure of profitability—net operating income—was $1.4 billion. Total adjusted capital grew to $24 billion in 2022, up from $21.9 billion in 2021.

“Whether they were facing volatility in the markets or extreme weather, our members and partners knew they could count on Nationwide to deliver on our promise of protection during a turbulent 2022,” said Nationwide Chief Executive Officer Kirt Walker.

“The solutions and experience Nationwide provides clearly resonated with our customers in 2022 — leading to our best year yet for total sales and premiums. It was also one of our most profitable years as we continued to focus on our risk management and underwriting disciplines while responding to inflation and financial market volatility.”

A closer look at the results
2022 earnings were driven mainly by a diverse portfolio of profitable financial services products, with the company’s property & casualty business performing at par with industry combined ratios.

“In 2022, our industry experienced uncertain economic conditions,” said Nationwide Chief Financial Officer Tim Frommeyer. “Supply-demand imbalances in the U.S. economy led to many challenges, including historic increases in inflation, broad-based compression in the U.S. economy and a looming recession. The impact on our industries — both financial services and property and casualty — has been extreme as seen in the cost of settling customer claims and in the impact of financial market losses on our members’ account values.

“Nationwide achieved its largest year of growth while maintaining capital at a AAA level,” Frommeyer continued. “Our results were driven by a diverse portfolio of businesses, strong risk-management practices and an ability to shift quickly in complex markets. These differentiators are enabled by our mutual structure, strong brand and our talented associates who take great pride in our performance and providing extraordinary care to our partners and members.”

Highlights from 2022
Among key business, customer and community impact highlights in 2022:

• Strong financial services returns: The company’s financial services businesses continue as a significant driver of Nationwide’s overall performance, with another record year of top-line sales and strong bottom-line earnings. Along with strong annuity and individual life insurance performance, significant growth in corporate-owned life insurance and pension risk transfer enabled financial services to deliver strong top-line sales and returns.
• Ability to flex: The company was well positioned with diverse annuity and life insurance product portfolios to respond to strong customer demand for fixed and institutional products. 
• A preferred partner: Nationwide continues to extend and deepen distribution relationships with major retail financial services firms such as Fidelity Investments to reach tens of thousands of savers seeking protection and saving solutions while opening the door for potential growth long term.
• P&C on par with industry performance: A diverse property & casualty product portfolio helped temper inflationary and supply chain pressures. Top line premium exceeded expectations in all P&C business lines, led by customer retention and increasing premium rates in response to inflation. While inflation drove higher claims than expected across the property and casualty industry, Nationwide’s underwriting results improved relative to the industry. In particular, excess & surplus/specialty and agribusiness businesses achieved underwriting profitability, while personal lines outperformed its comparable industry sector.
• Tackling agriculture-related climate risk:  Helping the agriculture industry meet the ever-changing concerns of its stakeholders, Nationwide provided
  $2 million in funding to form the new AgTech Innovation Hub in collaboration with The Ohio State University. The Innovation Hub will promote applied research, technology transfer, the exchange of knowledge and experience, and transdisciplinary innovation in support of agricultural technology.
• Leading on minimum pay: Along with a market-leading, flexible work model, Nationwide raised the minimum wage it will pay its workforce. In April, the company raised its minimum pay to $21 per hour, one of the highest minimum wages in the country.
• Thoughtfully repurposing facilities: As the company continues to lean into its hybrid-work model it needs less space and is thoughtfully repurposing facilities it no longer needs. In September, the company announced an agreement to sell one of its downtown Des Moines buildings to the city. The building will be converted into a new centralized center for city services. In November, Nationwide announced the conversion of a downtown Columbus building into a new Community Impact center, which will be leased to United Way of Central Ohio and a dozen other non-profits that provide critical services. Nationwide also continues to invest in renovating and improving campus locations to support the needs of its hybrid workforce.
• Advancing and growing pet protection: To increase access to veterinary services with a unified system of care for protection of more pets, Nationwide Pet introduced new partnerships with Petco and Adopt a Pet in 2022. Beginning with the country’s first pet health insurance policy to TV’s Lassie 40 years ago, the company continues to create new partnerships that add value and convenience for pet members.
• Advocate for safety: In 2022, Nationwide’s advocacy efforts to enact hands-free legislation in Ohio paid off when Senate Bill 288 passed, making distracted driving a primary offense. Nationwide is committed to continue working with lawmakers in 25 other states to pass similar distracted driving laws to make roads safer for all.
• Promoting diversity in financial services: As a co-founder of the Financial Alliance for Racial Equity in 2020, Nationwide joined several other leading financial services firms and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to co-sponsor scholarships in 2022 for young Black professionals to help pay for Certified Financial Professional (CFP) certifications. Additionally, the company hosted and co-sponsored the first-ever in-person/virtual event — “Finding Your Fit in Financial Services: Learn. Connect. Network.” — for HBCU students and young professionals in October.
• Making an impact in the community: It was a difficult year for many, and Nationwiders made a difference through thousands of volunteer hours and more than $50 million in total donations from Nationwide, its associates and the Nationwide Foundation.

“In years like 2022, Nationwide stands out. Our strategic advantages allowed us to accelerate through economic pressures, act decisively and emerge as a stronger, more competitive company,” added Frommeyer.

Opportunistic growth moving forward
Anticipating continued economic and financial market pressures in 2023, the company expects to continue managing and extending its strong capital position into profitable growth within its businesses. Nationwide’s strong capital position and uniquely diverse portfolio of financial services and property & casualty products allows it to shift with the changing protection needs of consumers and partners.

“We are confident in our future and are here to help our customers and partners build confidence in theirs,” concluded Walker. “We’ve been through difficult times before and have always come out stronger. We look forward to all we’ll achieve together in 2023 and beyond.”

For more highlights, check out the 2022 Annual Report.