National Western Life Insurance

National Western Life Insurance sells life insurance and annuity products including individual, universal, whole, and term plans. The company operates throughout the US, except in New York, and internationally in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim. Annuities, sold by independent agents, make up most of its US sales. Some two-thirds of its life insurance premiums come from outside the US, where the company targets wealthy individuals. Investments, mainly in fixed income securities, account for 70% of revenues. CEO Robert Moody, (a member of the powerful Moody family of Galveston, Texas) owns one-third of the company and effectively controls its board of directors.