3rd Largest Life Insurer Buying Gold

Bloomberg - Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., the third-largest U.S. life insurer by 2008 sales has bought gold for the first time [in] the company's 152-year history to hedge against further asset declines.

"Gold just seems to make sense; it's a store of value," Chief Executive Officer Edward Zore said in an interview following his comments at a conference hosted by Standard & Poor's in Brooklyn. "In the Depression, gold did very, very well."

Northwestern Mutual has accumulated about $400 million in gold, and Zore said the price could double or even rise fivefold if the economy continues to weaken. Gold gained 10 percent last month, the most since November.