Seymour Sternberg becomes president and chief operating officer of New York Life.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 9, 1995--Seymour Sternberg has become president of New York Life Insurance Company, the nation's 4th largest life insurer and a leading provider of managed health care and financial services for individuals and businesses, New York Life's Chairman and Chief Executive

Sternberg, 52, also becomes chief operating officer of the company, a new position at New York Life. In this new post, he will oversee all of the company's operations, including individual and group life, health and disability insurance, managed health care and financial and investment services for individuals and institutions. These operations include NYLCare, the company's fast-growing health benefits subsidiary that provides managed care services to more than 3.5 million people nationwide, as well as New York Life's life insurance program offered through the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

"Sy Sternberg's long-standing expertise in the marketing and distribution of insurance and financial services products and his many years of executive management experience within the industry comprise the critical skill set needed to help New York Life navigate successfully in today's complex financial services waters," Hohn said.

"Sy's proven record of success in growing New York Life's businesses in the highly competitive group insurance, long-term care and health care arenas make him the ideal leader for our core individual insurance operations as well."

In his new role, Sternberg will lead New York Life's individual insurance agency force, including 11,000 agents and a nationwide network of independent brokers, in a time of intense competition and heightened consumer and regulatory interest in the way insurance products are bought and sold.

"Under Harry Hohn's direction, New York Life has taken a clear lead in instituting enhanced compliance procedures and a comprehensive consumer protection program that is already serving as a model for the industry," Sternberg said. "Together with an agency force that's the best in the business, these efforts will enable New York Life to reach still higher standards of excellence in serving our clients."

Before joining New York Life in 1989, Sternberg served as senior executive vice president and member of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. A Brooklyn native, he earned a B.S. degree from the City College of New York in 1965 and an M.S. degree from Northeastern University in 1968. He is a member of the Health Insurance Association of America's committees on federal programs and health reform strategies.

Sternberg replaces George A.W. Bundschuh, 62, New York Life's president since 1990, who retired on Oct. 1 after 36 years with the company. Bundschuh joined New York Life in 1959 as an investment analyst. He was named an executive vice president of the company in 1980 and elected to its board of directors in 1983. In 1984, he assumed the post of vice chairman, the position he held until his election as president in January 1990.

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the largest financial services companies in the United States and the world. Founded in 1845 and headquartered in New York City, New York Life and its affiliates offer traditional life and group insurance, annuities and managed health care. On the investment side, New York Life and its affiliates provide institutional asset management, trust services and 401(k) services. One of its subsidiaries, NYLIFE Distributors Inc., offers an array of securities products and services, such as institutional and retail mutual funds.

CONTACT: David Pomerantz Tony DeMartino

New York Life or Edelman Public Relations

(212) 576-6038 (212) 704-8253

Lynn Schulman

Edelman Public Relations

(212) 704-8106