St. Paul-based Securian Financial returned to the Fortune 500 this year driven by record sales of $6.6 billion in 2019, a robust 20.1 percent gain. Chris Hilger, who joined the life insurance and financial services company in 2004, became CEO in 2015 and chairman in 2017. Hilger also serves on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and co-chairs the St. Paul Downtown Alliance. Hilger’s vision calls for a mix of organic growth and acquisitions to build the company. “In 2019, we saw growth in all of our diverse business lines,” says Hilger. “The largest percentage growth area for Securian Financial last year came from [retirement sales].”