Aflac Incorporated Promotes Global Chief Investment Officer Eric M. Kirsch To Executive Vice President

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Jul 30, 2012, 05:31 ET

COLUMBUS, Ga., July 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) announced today that Eric M. Kirsch has been promoted to executive vice president, Global Investments, while continuing as global chief investment officer reporting to Aflac Incorporated Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Kenneth S. Janke Jr. Kirsch joined Aflac in November 2011 as first senior vice president; global chief investment officer. In his role, he will remain responsible for management of Aflac's $109 billion investment portfolio and its team of more than 50 investment professionals. Kirsch will continue to oversee the company's investment efforts from the newly established Wall Street office.

Before joining Aflac, Kirsch most recently served as managing director and global head of insurance asset management, including portfolio management, insurance advisory services and distribution at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). Kirsch was recruited by GSAM to create a dedicated global insurance business. In that capacity, he managed a global team of more than 55 professionals and was instrumental in elevating GSAM's reputation as a top insurance asset manager. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he spent 27 combined years at Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) and Bankers Trust Company, most recently serving as managing director and global head of insurance asset management. At DeAM, Kirsch was responsible for a staff of more than 100 people including teams in North America, Europe and Asia and oversaw total insurance assets of more than $150 billion while a member of the Global Operating Committee of DeAM. Prior to this, Kirsch served as managing director and head of North America Fixed Income, responsible for more than $150 billion of assets across institutional and retail clients and multiple fixed income investment strategies. He also previously served as vice president and stable value portfolio manager at Bankers Trust Company. Kirsch received a bachelor of business administration in business and finance from Baruch College in 1984, and a master's of business administration from Pace University in 1988. He earned his CFA designation in 1990.

Commenting on the announcement, Aflac Incorporated Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Kenneth S. Janke Jr. said: "I have enjoyed working with Eric since he joined the Aflac team about eight months ago. Eric's knowledge and expertise are great assets to Aflac, and he will be presented with greater opportunity to apply his strengths in the future. He has been instrumental in helping shape Aflac's vision for the global investment function, and I look forward to his additional contributions."

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos added: "I have been extremely impressed with the accomplishments Eric has achieved since joining Aflac. He has truly put us off to a great start in leading the transformation of Aflac's investment function and has initiated a strategy that positions us to be world-class. I remain pleased with his direction and leadership, and I look forward to the continued success of Aflac as we further build out our investment organization."

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 individual and group insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. 2012 marked the sixth consecutive year Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as a World's Most Ethical Company. 2012 also marked the 14th year FORTUNE magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For and the 11th time FORTUNE included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies. 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; 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; significant valuation judgments in determination of amount of impairments taken on our investments; limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments; concentration of our investments in any particular single-issuer or sector; 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 Aflac Incorporated; changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities; ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates and employees; decreases in our financial strength or debt ratings; ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting standards; failure to comply with restrictions on patient privacy and information security; level and outcome of litigation; ability to effectively manage key executive succession; impact of the recent earthquake and tsunami natural disaster and related events at the nuclear plant in Japan and their aftermath; catastrophic events including, but not necessarily limited to, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and damage incidental to such events; 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