Our Mission

Banner Life Insurance Company and William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York (the Banner Life Insurance family of companies) have been helping families protect what matters most for over 70 years.

We’re here for you, helping you find security and simplicity in a complex financial world. We’re here for good, building relationships with agents and consumers, while supporting our communities. We’re here for better, continually working to improve our products and experience.

Here for you

Today, Banner Life and William Penn help protect over 1.6 million customers across the US with term life insurance. Banner Life sells policies in 49 states, D.C., while William Penn sells policies exclusively in New York.

We offer several term lengths, with policies providing up to 40 years of life insurance protection. Our advanced approach to underwriting means eligible applicants can get up to $5 million dollars in coverage – with instant approval.

We are financially strong, with over $13 billion in assets. We’re the second largest term life insurance provider in the US*. We pay out 99% of claims, supporting your beneficiaries when they need it most.

While it’s what we’re best known for, the Banner Life family of companies isn’t just a term life insurance provider. We also offer universal life policies for term policy conversions and pension risk transfer (PRT) services. 

Our PRT services team has over a decade of experience helping businesses derisk their balance sheets. We collaborate with plan sponsors and administrators to find PRT solutions customized to their businesses and treat annuitants like we treat all our customers – with care and compassion.

*based on 2025 data from LIMRA

Here for good

Getting a Banner Life or William Penn policy is as easy as finding a financial advisor. We partner with over 150,000 agents across the country, and you can also buy term life insurance directly from us. 

While we’re moving forward, our rich history stretches out behind us to 1949, when the Government Employees Life Insurance Company was formed. In 1983, we changed our name to Banner Life and, a few years later in 1989, we added William Penn to the family.

From 1981 through 2026, we formed the American arm of U.K.-based Legal & General Group, plc, one of the largest investment managers in the world. In 2026, we were acquired by Meiji Yasuda Group, as part of its expansion in the US. 

Along the way, we’ve dedicated ourselves to giving back. Our annual office fundraising campaigns raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, supporting the Boys & Girls Club of Frederick County, the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership (SHIP) of Frederick County, and America’s VetDogs, to name just a few.

Here for better

Today, the Banner Life family of companies is working hard to help more Americans get life insurance coverage. We’re making it easier for both advisors and customers, rolling out our digital application platform, Horizon, in 2019. Now, brokers can walk clients through the application process or give them the tools to fill out the application in their own time.

We’re making underwriting smarter and faster, increasing the number of instant decisions we can offer, and getting more people covered without the need for an exam. 

In the coming years, we’ll be working to help close the life insurance coverage gap in America, simplifying our processes and expanding our offerings. At the same time, we’re making our policies easier to understand and apply for. Financial products should bend to people’s needs, not the other way around.

The Banner Life family of companies – Here for you. Here for good. Here for better.