In this podcast, Schaefer talks about why the company continues to fuel IT spending, how three key investments have demonstrated business impact from IT, what the company is doing to move up the IT maturity scale, how the company makes IT investment decisions, and what two things CIOs can do to achieve business impact during this economic downturn.

Some insurance companies, such as AIG, have put themselves in dire financial circumstances. The billion in these companies have received in federal bailout money has added fuel to the economic downturn. On the other hand, the $21 billion Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company doesn’t need one cent of taxpayers’ dollars to preserve its customers’ wealth. This 150-year old, highly profitable company has more than $1 trillion of life insurance protection in force. Products include life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability insurance, annuities, mutual funds, and employee benefit services. In fact, the company maintains the highest available ratings for insurance financial strength from all four major ratings agencies.
 
Despite the economic downturn, Northwestern Mutual isn’t about to rest on its financial strength.  In fact, this company has continued to invest in areas, such as information technology, that can provide great value in terms of productivity, improved businesses processes, and revenues. Tim Schaefer, Northwestern Mutual’s chief information officer, says, “We can’t loose sight of the fact that we are in a downturn, but we don’t want to completely give away our opportunity to pursue some strategic projects for the business.”
 
As CIO for Northwestern Mutual, Schaefer leads 1,300 employees and 1,000 contractors in advancing the company’s strategy, for which relationships among customers, representatives, and executives drive the business forward.  One of his key responsibilities is to carry out a strategic IT plan to bring the IT organization to a higher level of solutions and systems delivery maturity and business process enablement. His other priorities include helping the company remain customer-centric, making better use of analytics, and integrating product lines to strengthen financial offerings.

Bio
In 2008, Timothy G. Schaefer became chief information officer for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.  He joined the company as a programmer in 1988. During his 20-year career, he has held a variety of senior leadership positions including director of policy owner services, director of systems, and director and vice president of life benefits. He currently sits on a variety of leadership committees, including chair of the technology strategy committee. He received a master’s degree in management and organizational behavior from Silver Lake College, where he is a member of the board.

Resources
Northwestern Mutual CIO Schaefer Drives Greater Maturity - Insurance & Technology
CIO Leadership Series – Tim Schaefer, Northwestern Mutual - CIO Fusion
Ed Zore Reconciles Prudence and Opportunism in Northwestern Mutual’s Technology Investment - Insurance & Technology

Production Credits
Elizabeth Ferrarini, Executive Producer
Tom Parish, Host and Audio Producer
Audio Editing by Doug Marcis