COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated
(NYSE: AFL) announced today that it has hired Rich Williams as executive vice president and
chief distribution officer, reporting to Teresa L. White, president of Aflac U.S. In this
newly created role, Williams will be responsible for growth of the
business through leading the fully aligned distribution team of
career agents and brokerage professionals. He will work closely
with the key leaders of the career and broker distribution teams to
capitalize on Aflac's strategic growth objectives in the U.S.
Williams' career is well balanced with an emphasis on business
strategy combined with strong execution developing into consistent
positive results. Prior to joining Aflac, he was senior vice
president and general manager, Stop Loss, at Unum, U.S., and senior
vice president, Growth Markets at Colonial Life and Accident
Insurance Company. He also held various positions of increasing
responsibility with Strategic Resource Company (an Aetna Company)
and began his career as an actuary with William M. Mercer Inc. In
previous positions throughout his career, Williams was responsible
for strategically delivering double-digit sales growth in key
sectors of the business, while teams under his leadership produced
consistent sales gains in both the traditional agency and brokerage
distribution markets. He has also successfully led a number of
strategic distribution partnerships as well as enrollment
technology and product development initiatives. Williams earned a
Bachelor of Science degree from Wofford
College and a Master of Arts degree from Wake Forest University. He also earned a Doctor of
Philosophy degree from the University of South
Carolina. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and
member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
"All of us at Aflac are delighted to have Rich onboard in this
key, strategic role. The development of this new position is part
of the planned natural evolution of Aflac U.S. strategy. This will
enable Aflac U.S. to continue to focus on the alignment and growth
of its current distribution model as well as developing further
distribution as part of its strategic plan and as markets naturally
evolve. Rich's expertise will be critical as we continue to develop
and implement our sales strategy. He brings a wealth of experience
to the position that will serve all of our stakeholders well," said
Teresa White, president of Aflac
U.S.
"I look forward to working with our distribution teams to help
propel growth in Aflac's U.S. sales," Williams said. "Relying on
our strength as the market leader, we will harness the power of the
Aflac sales organization and tremendous brand to expand delivery of
our much-needed products to more consumers."
About Aflac
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt,
Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For six decades, Aflac insurance
policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on
recovery, not financial stress. In the
United States, Aflac is the leader in voluntary insurance
sales at the worksite. Through its trailblazing One Day
PaySM initiative, Aflac U.S. can receive, process,
approve and disburse payment for eligible claims in one business
day. In Japan, Aflac is the
leading provider of medical and cancer insurance and insures 1 in 4
households. Aflac insurance products help provide protection to
more than 50 million people worldwide. For 11 consecutive years,
Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most
Ethical Companies. In 2017, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as
one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for the 19th
consecutive year and in 2017 included Aflac on its list of Most
Admired Companies for the 16th time. Aflac Incorporated is a
Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac and One Day
PaySM, visit aflac.com or aflac.com/espanol.
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 report
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", "outlook" 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; exposure to
significant interest rate risk; concentration of business in
Japan; foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar
exchange rate; failure to execute or implement the
conversion of the Japan branch
conversion to a legal subsidiary ; limited availability of
acceptable yen-denominated investments; deviations in actual
experience from pricing and reserving assumptions; ability to
continue to develop and implement improvements in information
technology systems; governmental actions for the purpose of
stabilizing the financial markets; interruption in
telecommunication, information technology and other operational
systems, or a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or
privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems; ongoing changes
in our industry; failure to comply with restrictions on patient
privacy and information security; extensive regulation and changes
in law or regulation by governmental authorities; defaults and
credit downgrades of our investments; ability to attract and retain
qualified sales associates and employees; decline in
creditworthiness of other financial institutions; subsidiaries'
ability to pay dividends to Aflac Incorporated; decreases in our
financial strength or debt ratings; inherent limitations to
risk management policies and procedures; concentration of our
investments in any particular single-issuer or sector;
differing judgments applied to investment valuations; ability to
effectively manage key executive succession; significant valuation
judgments in determination of amount of impairments taken on our
investments; catastrophic events including, but not necessarily
limited to, epidemics, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes,
earthquakes, tsunamis, acts of terrorism and damage incidental to
such events; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting standards;
loss of consumer trust resulting from events external to our
operations; increased expenses and reduced profitability resulting
from changes in assumptions for pension and other postretirement
benefit plans; level and outcome of litigation; failure of internal
controls or corporate governance policies and procedures; and other
risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Aflac
Incorporated's filings with the SEC.
Analyst and investor contact – David A.
Young, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, FAX 706.324.6330, or
dyoung@aflac.com
Media contact – Jon Sullivan,
706.763.4813 or jsullivan@aflac.com
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/richard-l-williams-jr-joins-aflac-as-executive-vice-president-chief-distribution-officer-300526285.html
SOURCE Aflac Incorporated