There are many different ways to rank life insurance companies and different criteria to use.

In the insurance  industry, life insurance companies are often rated by total “admitted assets.”  That means how much money the life insurance companies have. 

Another way to rank life insurance carriers would be the number of individual life insurance policies "In Force". 

There are other ways to rank insurance carriers.  However, whether a life insurance company is the biggest, ...

Here is a list of the highest rated life insurance companies for financial strength:

New York Life

Northwestern Mutual 

TIAA-CREF 

USAA

They all have the highest financial ratings an insurance company can achieve from the credit rating agencies.

You can visit AM Best Company, Moody's or Standard & Poor's to check on the financial strength ratings of insurance companies.

Here is a list of the Top 10 Life Insurance Companies and their financial strength ratings from AM Best ...

Life insurance companies are rated by a number of different independent rating agencies.  

Therefore, which life insurance companies are top rated will depend on which rating system you choose to use when comparing financial strength of life insurance carriers.

Here are the leading financial rating institutions for insurance companies:

A.M. Best Company
Weiss
Moody's
Fitch
Standard & Poor's

It may make sense to use multiple rating systems to measure the insurance companies you are i...