Estate planning at Northwestern Mutual Investment Services
How to protect 13 Northwestern Mutual Investment Services accounts — manage beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and file death claims
Northwestern Mutual Investment Services
Subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
northwesternmutual.com/investments→
Investment Client Services
Phone1-866-950-4644
Toll-Free1-866-950-4644
Mailing Address
Non-investment materials and account paperwork: Northwestern Mutual, P.O. Box 2958, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Investment CHECKS go to the clearing firm (include the Pershing account number on the face of the check): non-retirement, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382121, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8121; rollover/IRA contribution checks, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382084, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8084.
NMIS Online help desk (nmis.netxinvestor.com), option 3, 7:30am-5:00pm CT
Corporate headquarters
WebsiteLearn more→
Investment Client Services
Phone1-866-950-4644
Toll-Free1-866-950-4644
Mailing Address
Non-investment materials and account paperwork: Northwestern Mutual, P.O. Box 2958, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Investment CHECKS go to the clearing firm (include the Pershing account number on the face of the check): non-retirement, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382121, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8121; rollover/IRA contribution checks, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382084, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8084.
NMIS Online help desk (nmis.netxinvestor.com), option 3, 7:30am-5:00pm CT
Corporate headquarters
WebsiteLearn more→
Investment Client Services (deceased account holder)
Phone1-866-950-4644
Toll-Free1-866-950-4644
Mailing Address
Account paperwork and death certificates: Northwestern Mutual, P.O. Box 2958, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Physical stock and bond certificates: Pershing LLC, Attn: Security Receive Dept, One Pershing Plaza, Jersey City, NJ 07399. Book-entry re-registration: Attn: Legal Transfers, 720 E Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Insurance and annuity death claims (life company, separate process)
Coverage search / lost policy at the life company
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Northwestern Mutual Investment Services offers 13 consumer investment accounts that interact with estate planning in distinct ways. Of those, 10 can name a trust as beneficiary or be retitled into a trust. Understanding the transfer methods available for each account type helps families keep assets out of probate and ensure they pass to the right people.
At Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, beneficiary designations are managed in branch, by mail, and by phone. Accounts can also be retitled into a trust to keep them out of probate entirely.
Northwestern Mutual Investment Services has documented procedures for both preparing accounts during your lifetime and handling claims when an account holder passes away.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to update beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and review 13 account types at Northwestern Mutual Investment Services.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
7-step process, 8 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Frequently asked questions
Not NMIS. Northwestern Mutual's broker-dealer disclosure names Pershing LLC (DTCC # 0443, One Pershing Plaza, Jersey City, NJ 07399) as its clearing agent, and its fee schedule is headed "Account Fees - Non-IRA & IRA Accounts with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company as Custodian." NMIS and your financial representative service the account; the custodian and the clearing firm hold and move the assets. That is also why you log in through nmis.netxinvestor.com, which is Pershing's NetXInvestor portal. Three practical consequences for an estate: if your heirs move the account to another firm, the receiving firm needs Pershing's DTC number 0443 to pull the assets, not an NMIS identifier; physical certificates are mailed to Pershing in Jersey City, not to Milwaukee; and the re-registration your beneficiary is waiting on is executed by the custodian after NMIS approves the paperwork, which is why nothing moves until the representative has a complete package.
Move the taxable ones; leave the tax-advantaged ones alone and fix them with designations instead. Taxable brokerage accounts and advisory accounts can be retitled into the trust — your representative opens a trust-titled account and moves the positions in kind, which does not sell them and does not trigger capital gains. IRAs must NOT be retitled: a change of ownership on an IRA is a distribution of the entire account and is fully taxable, so name the trust as BENEFICIARY if the trust needs to control the money. A 529 cannot go into the trust either, and it hides a trap — its "beneficiary" is the student, not an heir, so what actually determines who controls it if you die is the SUCCESSOR OWNER designation, which many owners never complete. An UGMA/UTMA account belongs to the minor already and needs a successor custodian, not a trust. Start by calling Investment Client Services at (866) 950-4644 or your representative, and have the Certificate of Trust, trustee ID, and the trust's tax ID number ready.
Sources
Data sourced from Northwestern Mutual Investment Services primary sources (12 pages reviewed). How we research.
Northwestern Mutual Investment Services
Subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
northwesternmutual.com/investments→Investment Client Services
Phone1-866-950-4644
Toll-Free1-866-950-4644
Mailing Address
Non-investment materials and account paperwork: Northwestern Mutual, P.O. Box 2958, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Investment CHECKS go to the clearing firm (include the Pershing account number on the face of the check): non-retirement, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382121, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8121; rollover/IRA contribution checks, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382084, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8084.
NMIS Online help desk (nmis.netxinvestor.com), option 3, 7:30am-5:00pm CT
Corporate headquarters
WebsiteLearn more→
Investment Client Services
Phone1-866-950-4644
Toll-Free1-866-950-4644
Mailing Address
Non-investment materials and account paperwork: Northwestern Mutual, P.O. Box 2958, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Investment CHECKS go to the clearing firm (include the Pershing account number on the face of the check): non-retirement, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382121, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8121; rollover/IRA contribution checks, regular mail — Pershing LLC, P.O. Box 382084, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-8084.
NMIS Online help desk (nmis.netxinvestor.com), option 3, 7:30am-5:00pm CT
Corporate headquarters
WebsiteLearn more→
Investment Client Services (deceased account holder)
Phone1-866-950-4644
Toll-Free1-866-950-4644
Mailing Address
Account paperwork and death certificates: Northwestern Mutual, P.O. Box 2958, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Physical stock and bond certificates: Pershing LLC, Attn: Security Receive Dept, One Pershing Plaza, Jersey City, NJ 07399. Book-entry re-registration: Attn: Legal Transfers, 720 E Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Insurance and annuity death claims (life company, separate process)
Coverage search / lost policy at the life company
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Northwestern Mutual Investment Services accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
