COLUMBUS, Ga., Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac
Incorporated announced today the promotions of three of its
officers from vice president to senior vice president.
James J. Hennessy has been
promoted to senior vice president of Pre-Sales Operations and Aflac
Group Operations, reporting to Virgil R.
Miller, executive vice president; chief operating officer,
Aflac U.S. and president of Aflac Group. In this role, Hennessy is
responsible for leading the planning, development and
implementation of Aflac U.S. Pre-Sales Operations and driving the
culture, strategy and operational plans for Aflac Group operations.
Hennessy joined Continental American Life Insurance (now Aflac
Group) in 1996, and for more than 20 years has helped guide the
Aflac Group teams through tremendous growth in a variety of
leadership roles in areas including asset management, compliance,
operations and distribution. He has been recognized for his
insightful review of existing operations, streamlining and
improving processes and increasing operational efficiencies and
performance. He was promoted to vice president in 2013, most
recently serving as vice president of Strategic Asset Management,
focused on group account retention. Hennessy holds a bachelor's
degree in political science and criminal justice from Canisius College and previously served in
the United States Army. He has
also served on the board of the Association of South Carolina Life
Insurance Companies (ASLIC) and the board of Palmetto Children's
Hospital, where he continues to serve in a voluntary capacity. He
recently served on the board of the Prisma Health Children's Cancer
Center and currently serves on the board for the March of Dimes
ELT.
Additionally, Aflac Incorporated announced that Jeramy D. Tipton has been promoted to senior
vice president, Distribution Expansion and Consumer Markets,
reporting to Richard L. Williams
Jr., executive vice president; chief distribution officer.
In this newly expanded role, Tipton is responsible for leading the
fully aligned direct-to-consumer business market to execute on
Aflac's U.S. growth strategy. He is also responsible for driving
sales and leading all of the financial, marketing and operational
aspects of the direct-to-consumer business, including oversight of
partnership programs, digital expansion and driving profitable
growth. Tipton joined Aflac's marketing team in 2011 as second vice
president, where he was responsible for developing sales tools and
innovative marketing strategies to drive broker sales among large
employers. Tipton brings both breadth and depth of over two decades
of marketing and sales experience including extensive work in the
broker and personal producer space, and he has worked to develop
marketing and sales concepts for many of the largest voluntary
benefits transactions in the history of the business. He was
promoted to vice president in 2014, where he led the strategy to
develop Everwell, Aflac's web-based enrollment platform for small
businesses. Since its introduction, Everwell has grown tremendously
and ultimately served to replace Aflac's legacy enrollment
technology in the U.S. Most recently, Tipton was responsible for
driving growth for Aflac by leading the product development,
technology and operations for Aflac's consumer market initiative
that focuses on innovative, digital-first consumer insurance
products. Prior to joining Aflac, he served as director of
marketing and communications, and later, as assistant vice
president of marketing and communications for Allstate
Insurance Company. Prior to that, he served as vice president of
sales and marketing at NetLook Inc. Tipton holds a bachelor's
degree in communications and media studies from the University of Oklahoma.
Aflac Incorporated also announced that Shannon L. Watkins has been promoted to senior
vice president, Brand and Creative Services, reporting to
Teresa L. White, president of Aflac
U.S. As Aflac's head of Brand and Creative Services, Watkins is
responsible for driving and leading all aspects of brand strategy,
advertising, media, experiential marketing, creative services and
event production. Watkins joined Aflac in April 2018 as vice president, Brand and Creative
Services, and within her first year landed Aflac's fully integrated
campaign that added the Southeastern Conference and the SEC Network
to the company's national media focus. With more than 20 years of
advertising experience and expertise, Watkins is a recognized brand
leader and has received a number of prestigious industry awards
including a Clio and a Cannes Bronze Lion. Other honors she has
received include distinction as a "woman to watch" by Brand
Innovators and the Kelley Brand Leaders award from Indiana University in 2018. Prior to joining Aflac,
Watkins served in various brand, management and leadership
capacities at companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft
Foods, ConAgra Foods and Procter & Gamble. Watkins holds a
bachelor's degree from Fisk University
and earned a Master of Business Administration from the Kelley
School of Business at Indiana
University, where she serves on the board of the alumni
association. Watkins also serves as a board advisor for the
Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing for the
Association of National Advertisers, and she is a member of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill of America.
Commenting on the promotions, President of Aflac U.S. Teresa L.
White shared: "Jamie, Jeramy and Shannon are all industry veterans
and proven experts in their respective fields, each of them
bringing unique talents and perspectives, a wealth of knowledge and
experience, and tremendous leadership and vision to their teams and
to Aflac as a whole. Their promotions to senior vice president are
all very well deserved, and I look forward to their continued
contributions to Aflac as we strive to accomplish our mission to
deliver innovative product solutions to our policyholders. As we
refine our strategies to take Aflac to the next level in terms of
growth, customer experience, marketing and branding, I have every
confidence that we have the right visionaries in place to help lead
the way."
ABOUT AFLAC INCORPORATED
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:
AFL) is a Fortune 500 company, helping provide protection to more
than 50 million people through its subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S., where it is a leading
supplemental insurer by paying cash fast when policyholders get
sick or injured. For more than six decades, insurance policies of
Aflac Incorporated's subsidiaries have given policyholders the
opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. Aflac Life
Insurance Japan is the leading provider of medical and cancer
insurance in Japan where it
insures 1 in 4 households. Through its trailblazing One Day
PaySM initiative in the United
States, for eligible claims, Aflac can process, approve and
electronically send funds to claimants for quick access to cash in
just one business day. For 13 consecutive years, Aflac has been
recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical
Companies. Fortune magazine has recognized Aflac as one of the 100
Best Companies to Work for in America for 20 consecutive years, and
in 2020 Fortune included Aflac on its list of World's Most Admired
Companies for the 19th time. To find out more about One Day
PaySM and learn how to get help with expenses health
insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at aflac.com. Aflac herein
means American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus and American Family Life Assurance
Company of New York.
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.
The company desires to take advantage of these provisions. This
press release 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.
The company cautions 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:
- events related to the ongoing Japan Post
investigation
- 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
- limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated
investments
- U.S. tax audit risk related to conversion of the
Japan branch to a
subsidiary
- deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving
assumptions
- ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in
information technology systems
- competitive environment and ability to anticipate and
respond to market trends
- ability to protect the Aflac brand and the Company's
reputation
- ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates,
brokers, employees, and distribution partners
- 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
- failure to comply with restrictions on patient privacy and
information security
- extensive regulation and changes in law or regulation by
governmental authorities
- tax rates applicable to the Company may change
- defaults and credit downgrades of investments
- decline in creditworthiness of other financial
institutions
- significant valuation judgments in determination of amount
of impairments taken on the Company's investments
- subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to the Parent
Company
- decreases in the Company's financial strength or debt
ratings
- inherent limitations to risk management policies and
procedures
- concentration of the Company's investments in any particular
single-issuer or sector
- differing judgments applied to investment
valuations
- ability to effectively manage key executive
succession
- catastrophic events including, but not necessarily limited
to, epidemics, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes,
tsunamis, war or other military action, terrorism or other acts of
violence, and damage incidental to such events
- changes in accounting standards
- increased expenses and reduced profitability resulting from
changes in assumptions for pension and other postretirement benefit
plans
- level and outcome of litigation
- allegations or determinations of worker misclassification in
the United State
Analyst and investor contact – David A.
Young, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667 or dyoung@aflac.com
Media contact – Catherine H.
Blades, 706.596.3014; FAX: 706.320.2288 or
cblades@aflac.com
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SOURCE Aflac Incorporated