Aflac Incorporated Hires Joseph F. Meyer as Global Chief Operating Officer of Investment Division

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Mar 07, 2012, 08:37 ET

COLUMBUS, Ga., March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated announced today that it has hired Joseph F. Meyer to the newly created position of senior vice president; global chief operating officer in Aflac's Investment Division, reporting to First Senior Vice President; Global Chief Investment Officer Eric M. Kirsch and working closely with Aflac Japan President and Chief Operating Officer Tohru Tonoike. Meyer will join Aflac on March 12, 2012, and will work out of the Aflac Japan Tokyo office, where he will be responsible for the administrative and operational management of Aflac's Investment Division.

Meyer has 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, predominately in the securities and asset management business. Twenty of those years were spent working specifically in Japan. He most recently served as chief administrative officer of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Prior to that, Meyer worked as representative director and CEO of Chi-X Japan Limited. Meyer has also held extensive upper management positions throughout his career, including serving as chief operating officer at Shinsei Bank in Japan and chief operating officer and managing director at: Deutsche Asset Management, Global Insurance–New York; Deutsche Securities Limited, Global Equities–Tokyo; and Deutsche Securities Limited–Tokyo. He graduated cum laude from Colby College in 1979 with bachelor of arts degrees in Government and East Asian Studies, and was a Thomas J. Watson Fellow upon graduation.

Aflac Japan President and Chief Operating Officer Tohru Tonoike commented, "I am pleased to welcome someone of Meyer-san's stature and expertise to our organization. I expect him to play an important role in the day-to-day management of our investment management activities, which is a high priority for Aflac Japan and of the utmost importance for our policyholders and shareholders."

First Senior Vice President and Global Chief Investment Officer Eric M. Kirsch added, "Having worked with Joe previously, I am delighted to have him as a key member of my senior management team. I have no doubt that he will be instrumental in helping to make Aflac a world-class investment operation. Joe brings extensive investment management experience to Aflac and a track record of vision and success. I am excited to be working with him again, and I look forward to his contributions to Aflac's global investment function."

ABOUT AFLAC

When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For more than 55 years, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance. In Japan, Aflac is the number one life insurance company in terms of individual policies in force. Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For five consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies and by Forbes magazine as one of America's Best-Managed Companies in the Insurance category. In 2012, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 14th consecutive year. Also, Fortune magazine included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 11th time in 2012. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. We desire to take advantage of these provisions. This document contains cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other statements made by company officials in communications with the financial community and contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "goal," "objective," "may," "should," "estimate," "intends," "projects," "will," "assumes," "potential," "target" or similar words as well as specific projections of future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements. We caution readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements: difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy generally; governmental actions for the purpose of stabilizing the financial markets; defaults and credit downgrades of securities in our investment portfolio; impairment of financial institutions; credit and other risks associated with Aflac's investment in perpetual securities; differing judgments applied to investment valuations; subjective determinations of amount of impairments taken on our investments; realization of unrealized losses; limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments; concentration of our investments in any particular sector or issuer; concentration of business in Japan; ongoing changes in our industry; exposure to significant financial and capital markets risk; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; significant changes in investment yield rates; deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions; subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to the Parent Company; changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities; ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates and employees; ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting standards; decreases in our financial strength or debt ratings; level and outcome of litigation; ability to effectively manage key executive succession; catastrophic events including, but not necessarily limited to, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and radiological disasters; and failure of internal controls or corporate governance policies and procedures.

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Analyst and investor contact – Robin Y. Wilkey, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667; FAX: 706.324.6330, or [email protected]

Media contact – Laura Kane, 706.596.3493, FAX: 706.320-2288, or [email protected]

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated