Most insurance providers today are stock or public companies. This means they are owned by shareholders who have a say in how the companies do business. Nevertheless, there are still some companies with a second block of business called a participating account. This account benefits participating policyholders in this pool. Examples of public insurers providing participating life insurance policies are Sun Life and Canada Life.  On the other hand, mutual insurance companies are owned by participating policyholders instead of shareholders. Hence, they are not pressured by shareholders for quarterly results, and the board of directors is elected unanimously. Some instances of mutual companies with participating life insurance are The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada and Assumption Life.