Mutual or publicly owned: Which is the best insurance company for you?

Are you better off buying life insurance from a "mutual" insurance company or a publicly owned one? ...Mutual insurance companies are owned by policyholders. Publicly owned insurance companies are owned by stockholders.

Stock-owned insurance companies showed higher growth rates and better earnings than mutuals at the turn of the decade, according to an August report by Moody's Investors Services.

However, mutual insurance companies experienced less severe credit downgrades than stock-owned companies during the latest recession. Mutuals, the report says, are better capitalized, have a less risky business focus and are not as subject to the investor panics created by newspaper headlines...

Palm Beach Daily News: Mutual or publicly owned: Which is the best insurance company for you?