Janke steps aside as candidate for Aflac chief financial officer

May 21--Ken Janke, the Aflac executive who appeared to be in line to become chief financial officer, has bowed out of the running for the key position with the supplemental insurer headquartered in Columbus.

Aflac Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Amos broke the news Thursday during a briefing in New York with financial analysts who follow the company. He said Janke, who turned 57 in April, had requested that his name be withdrawn from any succession planning for the job.

"I wouldn't normally talk about one specific personnel change at the financial analysts meeting," Amos said. "However, because Ken Janke led the investor relations team for 25 years -- and almost everyone in the room knows him very well -- I wanted to share a recent development."

Amos did not say why Janke, who has been with Aflac since 1985, decided to not pursue the CFO position. Janke was not available for comment following the meeting, the company said.

Last September, Janke returned to the job of deputy chief financial officer as Teresa White was promoted to president of Aflac U.S. That was not a demotion for him, the firm said at the time, because he was retaining the role of executive vice president of Aflac Inc., with White reporting to him.

In a statement Thursday, Aflac called Janke "a valued and trusted member of our team" and said he will continue in his current job. Just as Amos had said earlier in the day, the statement said current Aflac Inc. President and Chief Financial Officer Kriss Cloninger, 67, has pledged to not retire before age 70 and will continue to actively manage the company and "serve as a guiding hand" for the person who does become the next CFO.

To that end, Amos said Aflac has been aggressively scouring the corporate landscape for a new top financial leader, with plans to have that job filled by the end of June. It is very likely that person will come from outside the publicly traded company that markets itself heavily with the Aflac duck and is a favorite among stock investors.

"Even with great succession planning, you have to be fluid and flexible," Amos said during the meeting with analysts. "It is very important that we bring in someone who not only has a new perspective, but who, as a leader, also enriches our corporate culture. Ultimately, the culture of an organization is very important as part of leadership because it helps define common goals, objectives and standards of behavior that employees have come to count on."

It is not known how much Janke is earning as executive vice president of Aflac Inc. and deputy chief financial officer. But the CFO job likely would have been a hefty pay increase. Cloninger, who currently carries both titles of president and CFO, earned a base salary of $975,000 in 2014, with incentive pay of nearly $2.2 million. Factoring in stock options and awards, and other executive benefits, his total pay package came to just under $6.6 million last year.

Amos also stressed to the analysts in New York that a company's success is not about one individual, and that includes him. But Amos, 63, reiterated his commitment to the 60-year-old firm founded by his father and two uncles, and said that he plans to remain on board until at least age 70, "or as long as I'm wanted and needed."

Aflac sells supplemental health and life insurance policies in the U.S. and Japan. It has roughly 9,400 employees in the U.S. and Japan. About 4,800 earn a paycheck in the U.S., with nearly 3,900 in the Asian nation.

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