COLUMBUS, Ga., Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, the No. 1 provider of voluntary and guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States, today announced that it has hired Drew J. Niziak, a 20-year veteran of the insurance industry, as its new senior vice president of Broker Sales and Aflac Benefits Solutions (ABS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aflac.

In his new role, Niziak will oversee the broker sales strategy and lead the development of national and regional marketing relationships with insurance brokers through ABS and Aflac. ABS provides specialized services to the company's most significant brokerage partners through an experienced team of business developers, consultants, strategic account managers and broker service professionals while Aflac provides dedicated services and support to mid-tier and regional brokers in partnership with Aflac's sales force.

Prior to joining Aflac, Niziak held several positions with Sun Life Financial in the Employee Benefit Group. Joining the company as a group sales representative in 1993, he most recently held executive vice president positions in sales and distribution, where he helped develop new voluntary insurance products. Niziak holds a master of business administration degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of arts degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Aflac Senior Vice President of Sales Distribution Byron Matthews commented: "Drew's impressive experience will be invaluable as we continue to provide solutions for brokers at every level. As the health care landscape continues to change, brokers are increasingly trusted to educate business owners about solutions that make more complete coverage options available to employees -- without additional costs to the company. Drew will further Aflac's ability to provide brokers with solutions to drive revenue growth and as leader of ABS will ensure increased support and services to national brokerages as part of the industry's most comprehensive broker-focused solution."

Niziak said, "Aflac is the industry leader, and I welcome the opportunity to strengthen that position by providing brokers with both group and individual products, value-added services and tools and the dedicated support they need. In today's changing market, developing relationships with brokers and national brokerage firms is crucial to expanding the market for voluntary insurance products and services."

ABOUT AFLAC
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For nearly six decades, 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. For six consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2013, FORTUNE magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 15th 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; 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.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100423/CL92305LOGO )


    Media Contact            Analyst and Investor Contact
    Kip Havel                Robin Y. Wilkey
    Aflac                    Aflac
    706.243.5543             706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667
    mediarelations@aflac.com rwilkey@aflac.com

SOURCE Aflac