COLUMBUS, Ga., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aflac Incorporated today announced that Joseph W. Smith Jr., senior vice president, investments; and chief investment officer, will retire from Aflac on December 31, 2006. Smith will be succeeded as chief investment officer by W. Jeremy "Jerry" Jeffery. Jeffery is currently senior vice president, investments; and deputy chief investment officer.

Smith, a graduate of the University of Alabama, joined Aflac's investment department as assistant vice president in June 1985 and was promoted to vice president in 1986. In 1991, Smith was named senior vice president; and chief investment officer. He is a chartered financial analyst and a member of the Association for Investment Management Research.

Prior to joining Aflac last year, Jeffery, a graduate of Yale University, had a 23-year career with Morgan Stanley, where he focused on diverse fixed income strategies affecting a wide range of industries. During his last 10 years at Morgan Stanley, he served as executive director, Fixed Income Institutional Sales. Jeffery joined Aflac in 2005.

Commenting on the announcement, Aflac President and Chief Financial Officer Kriss Cloninger said: "It's been a pleasure to have worked with Joe for many years, and I am grateful for his leadership, dedication and contributions to Aflac. Joe has effectively led a global investment team that has produced very strong returns over a long period of time. He leaves a legacy of an innovative investment approach and a portfolio that is one of the strongest in our industry. At the same time, I am confident that our investment success will continue under Jerry's leadership. At Morgan Stanley, Jerry spent more than a decade working with Aflac's investment team to identify investments that fit our unique needs. Jerry's extensive knowledge and experience, in addition to his long-term working relationship with Aflac, has already benefited the continuity of our investment strategy."

For 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 both in Fortune magazine's listing of America's Most Admired Companies and Forbes magazine's Platinum 400 List of America's Best Big Companies for five consecutive years. In January 2005, Aflac was included in Fortune magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the seventh 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 (NYSE: AFL) 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 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: 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.

Analyst and investor contact - Kenneth S. Janke Jr., 800.235.2667 - option 3, FAX: 706.324.6330, or kjanke@aflac.com

Media contact - Laura Kane, 706.596.3493, FAX: 706.320.2288, or lkane@aflac.com

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated