Aflac One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 13th Consecutive Year

COLUMBUS, Ga., Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Illustrating Aflac's long-term and ongoing commitment to ethical excellence, today the Ethisphere Institute announced that Aflac, the leading supplemental insurance company for sales at the worksite,^* has been named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for a record-setting 13^th consecutive year. Aflac is one of only eight businesses and the only insurance company to appear on the list every year since its inception in 2007.

According to Ethisphere, in 2019, 128 honorees were recognized spanning 21 countries and 50 industries. The 13th class of honorees profoundly illustrates how companies continue to be the driving force for improving communities, building capable and empowered workforces, and fostering corporate cultures focused on ethics and a strong sense of purpose.

"Aflac's commitment to serving the community with passion and compassion illustrates the core, fundamental spirit that drives our superior results, especially as the marketplace continues to demand ethical excellence from the business community," Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos said. "The ethical culture of Aflac – decades long and miles deep – guides our employees to treat every customer like family when they need us to deliver on our promise quickly and efficiently. We are extremely proud that Ethisphere has acknowledged this consistency by including us as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for a remarkable 13^th consecutive year."   

"Companies like Aflac recognized long before acronyms like CSR and ESG became mainstream that operating your business under the premise of doing the right thing is not only purposeful; it demonstrates a certain business savvy," Ethisphere CEO Timothy Erblich said. "Congratulations to Aflac for earning this recognition for the 13^th time and for taking the long view, executing purpose-based strategies and doing their part to make this a better world."

The full list of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at
https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

Best practices and insights from the 2019 honorees will be released in a report and webcast in March and April of this year. Companies or individuals interested in receiving this report can register to do so here.

Methodology & Scoring
The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient^® (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), governance (15 percent), and leadership and reputation (10 percent). All companies that participate in the assessment process receive their scores, providing them with valuable insights into how they stack up against leading organizations.

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 Pay^SM 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. In 2018, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for the 20th consecutive year, and in 2019, Fortune included Aflac on its list of World's Most Admired Companies for the 18th time. To find out more about One Day Pay^SM and learn how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at aflac.com.

*Supplemental insurance sales at the worksite are defined as 100 percent employee-paid through payroll deduction.

Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus and American Family Life Assurance Company of New York

About the Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.

Media contacts:
Aflac – Jon Sullivan, 706.763.4813 or [email protected] 

Aflac analyst and investor contact:David A. Young, 706.596.3264 or [email protected]

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SOURCE Aflac