Aflac Japan Promotes Takaaki Matsumoto to First Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing and Sales; Re-Aligns Three Key Mark
December 05 2006 - 5:27PM
PR Newswire (US)
COLUMBUS, Ga., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aflac Incorporated
(NYSE:AFL) today announced the promotion of Takaaki Matsumoto to
first senior vice president; director of marketing and sales for
Aflac Japan. In his new capacity, Matsumoto will have overall
responsibility for Aflac Japan's marketing and sales division, and
he will continue to focus on strategic marketing issues.
Previously, Matsumoto was senior vice president; director of
marketing, a position he had held since February 2006. Matsumoto
has served in various marketing and sales positions since joining
Aflac Japan in 1975. Three additional key leadership changes were
also announced today, with each position reporting directly to
Matsumoto. Jun Isonaka was promoted to senior vice president in
charge of sales. Aflac Japan's sales territory directors will
report to Isonaka, and he will oversee the corporate agency and
individual/independent sales channels as well as field training.
Isonaka joined Aflac in 1980, has served as one of Aflac Japan's
territory directors, and was most recently responsible for all
contact center operations. Shigehiko Akimoto, senior vice
president, has been charged with assisting Matsumoto by overseeing
Aflac Japan's product development, marketing strategy, and
advertising. Akimoto joined Aflac in 1985 and served as general
manager of the sales planning department. Most recently, he served
as senior vice president, director of the Tokyo territory. Hisayuki
Shinkai, first senior vice president, and previously the director
of sales, will focus on preparing for the sale of Aflac Japan's
products through banks when that channel opens, which is expected
at the end of 2007. Prior to joining Aflac Japan in 1999, Shinkai
worked for Long Term Credit Bank of Japan, Ltd. He joined Aflac as
general manager of the public relations department and has served
in various management capacities. In February 2006, he was named
first senior vice president; director of sales. Additionally, Aflac
Japan today announced an increase in the number of territory
directors, going from seven territory directors to 10. Each
territory director is responsible for managing an average of 10
regional sales offices, which, in turn, support the training and
sales activities of their associates and agencies. Commenting on
today's announcements, Akitoshi Kan, Aflac Japan president and
chief operating officer, said: "This realignment acknowledges that
there are different aspects to the marketing and sales division,
although they share a common goal -- growing Aflac Japan's new
premium sales. Operating in a challenging market environment, we
believe it's most advantageous to spread the key sales and
marketing responsibilities among three capable people who have
extensive experience and talent. At the same time, it's important
to have them report to one individual who has overall
responsibility for sales and marketing and unites their efforts."
Daniel P. Amos, chairman and chief executive officer, added, "Since
Matsumoto-san was promoted to marketing director earlier in the
year, he has demonstrated strong leadership skills and solid
insight into the Japanese market. I believe Matsumoto-san will be
well-served by the team he has assembled. Akimoto-san has extensive
marketing and sales experience at Aflac Japan and a strong
understanding of advertising and product development that will
benefit Aflac. In his former position over the Aflac Contact
Center, Isonaka-san significantly increased Aflac Japan's number of
outbound calls to existing customers. These calls not only enhanced
our customer service, but they also generated additional sales.
Prior to that, Isonaka-san was one of our top territory directors.
As we prepare for the opportunity to sell through the bank channel
in 2008, Shinkai-san's expertise has proven to be very valuable in
helping us further develop banking relationships. Shinkai-san began
working on bank sales in 2005 and considering the potential size of
the opportunity, we strongly feel the need to dedicate a qualified
point person to develop this important sales channel. "The
realignment of Aflac Japan's marketing division reflects the fact
that we operate in a dynamic industry. Markets change, and we have
to make sure we are flexible enough to adjust along with them. We
believe the changes that we have announced will help us work more
effectively with the more than 88,000 licensed sales associates
that represent Aflac Japan. And we believe that increasing the
number of territory directors will help us better implement the new
agent training initiative we've previously discussed. As we
position ourselves to address the challenges in the marketplace and
grow our business, we continue to believe that Japan provides a
vast market that is very well-suited to the types of products we
sell. In the long run, we believe the need for our products will
continue to grow." For more than 50 years, Aflac products have
given policyholders the opportunity to direct cash where it is
needed most when a life-interrupting medical event causes financial
challenges. Aflac is the number one provider of
guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and the number
one insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in
force in Japan. Aflac's insurance products provide protection to
more than 40 million people worldwide. Aflac has been included in
Fortune magazine's listing of America's Most Admired Companies for
six consecutive years. In January 2006, Aflac was included in
Fortune magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in
America for the eighth consecutive year. Aflac was also included in
Fortune magazine's list of the Top 50 Employers for Minorities in
August 2005, and in September 2005, Aflac Japan was named the Life
Insurance Company of the Year at the Asia Insurance Industry
Awards, sponsored by the Asia Insurance Review. 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. 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 oral discussions 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 in our reports filed with the SEC,
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contemplated by the forward-looking statements: legislative and
regulatory developments; assessments for insurance company
insolvencies; competitive conditions in the United States and
Japan; new product development and customer response to new
products and new marketing initiatives; ability to attract and
retain qualified sales associates; ability to repatriate profits
from Japan; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese tax laws or accounting
requirements; credit and other risks associated with Aflac's
investment activities; significant changes in investment yield
rates; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; deviations
in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions
including, but not limited to, morbidity, mortality, persistency,
expenses, and investment yields; level and outcome of litigation;
downgrades in the company's credit rating; changes in rating agency
policies or practices; subsidiary's ability to pay dividends to
parent company; ineffectiveness of hedging strategies used to
minimize the exposure of our shareholders' equity to foreign
currency translation fluctuations; catastrophic events; and general
economic conditions in the United States and Japan. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO ) Analyst
and investor contact -- Kenneth S. Janke Jr., 800.235.2667 - option
3, Fax: 706.324.6330, or Media contact -- Laura Kane, 706.596.3493,
Fax: 706.320.2288, or
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aflac Incorporated CONTACT:
Analysts and investors, Kenneth S. Janke Jr., +1-800-235-2667,
option 3, or fax +1-706-324-6330, or , or Media, Laura Kane,
+1-706-596-3493, or fax +1-706-320-2288, or , both of Aflac
Incorporated Web site: http://www.aflac.com/
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