A day at the ballpark is a classic American story – a story of community, tradition, and pure joy. It’s a story written not just on the field, but by a vast, unseen network of infrastructure, commerce, and ingenuity that makes such a day possible.
Take a day at Yankee Stadium – from buying tickets and booking flights to grabbing coffee, riding the subway, lighting the stadium, and even buying a hot dog, life insurers' investments fuel that diverse network and help make gameday possible. And what's true at the stadium is true across the country: life insurers' capital quietly underpins the everyday moments — and the long-term progress — Americans count on.
In fact, from the first Pennsylvania Railroad bonds we invested in, our industry has been a foundational partner in building the very fabric of our nation for 175 of our 250 years. Today, we’re not only the single largest investor in U.S. corporate bonds, but we’re also well ahead of the next investors on the list. The sheer size of these investments is matched only by their all-encompassing nature, reaching every corner of the American economy.
All told, life insurers have $8.4 trillion invested across the American economy. This 250th birthday is a fitting moment to celebrate how investments like this support American innovation and can continue to do so far into the future with policy change.
Life insurers have played a role in this story by helping people through every stage of life via life insurance policies, disability coverage, retirement annuities, and more. Collecting fair and affordable premiums on our products is just part of how we fulfill the promises we’ve made through the benefits we offer. That’s why we were among the first industries to look to long-term investment opportunities to ensure we have capital whenever claims are made, 10, 20 or 30 years in the future – so early that we invested in the companies that provided raw materials to build Yankee Stadium itself.
Patient capital from life insurers spans our economy and includes $374 billion in manufacturing, $674 billion in long-term energy sector bonds, $123 billion in agriculture, and $1.9 trillion in community infrastructure. That means these investments are fueling our energy grid, constructing our hospitals and airports, strengthening our supply chains, seeding Main Street businesses, creating jobs, and fostering technological innovation that will define America’s next 250 years.
These investments are a perfect match for the long-term promises and guarantees life insurers make to their customers. In most cases, we are “buy and hold” investors who rarely sell bonds before their maturity date. That patient, steady approach is exactly what allows us to be a dependable source of capital for America decade after decade.
Unfortunately, an outdated tax rule keeps some of this capital on the sidelines. Today, the code treats insurers’ bond holdings as capital, so a bond sold at a loss becomes a capital loss – deductible only against capital gains. After years of low interest rates, insurers have few such gains, leaving these losses stranded as capital that could otherwise fuel our communities. A commonsense update would change the loss from capital to ordinary, letting insurers deduct it against income like premiums and investments. It’s a smart fix that unlocks even more capital to keep building America’s next 250 years.
Our $8.4 trillion in investments is just the start, and life insurers are ready to do more. That drive is as much a part of the classic American story as baseball itself – when we put our minds to it and our dollars behind it, American innovation is unstoppable. This innovation and our communities need a stable foundation, and life insurers are a committed partner in building it, investing to bridge today’s needs with tomorrow’s aspirations.
