Aflac Incorporated

Is Aflac publicly traded?

Yes. Aflac Incorporated trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AFL and is a component of the S&P 500. The company has been public since 1974.

Who founded Aflac?

Brothers John, Paul, and Bill Amos founded the company in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia as American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. Dan Amos, John's son, has been CEO since 1990.

Is Aflac a Japanese company?

No. Aflac is an American company headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. However, the majority of its earnings come from Japan, where it is the largest provider of cancer and medical insurance, which is why it is often mistaken for a Japanese insurer.

What is Aflac Group Insurance?

Aflac Group Insurance is the U.S. group benefits brand built on Continental American Insurance Company, which Aflac acquired in 2009. It sells employer-sponsored accident, critical illness, hospital, and life products alongside the core individual worksite line.

Why does the yen matter to Aflac's stock?

Most Aflac earnings are generated in yen and translated to dollars for reporting. A stronger dollar reduces reported earnings even when the underlying business is steady, so the company discloses currency-neutral adjusted figures alongside reported results.

Brothers John, Paul, and Bill Amos founded the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, initially selling life, accident, and health policies door to door. The company found its niche early in cancer expense insurance, a product category it effectively created in the United States after John Amos saw how treatment costs bankrupted families.

The decisive move came in 1974, when Aflac became one of the first foreign insurers licensed to sell in Japan. Cancer insurance proved to be an extraordinary fit for the Japanese market, and by the 1990s Aflac insured roughly a quarter of Japanese households, making it the largest foreign insurer in the country and eventually the largest seller of cancer insurance in Japan, foreign or domestic. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1974, the same year as the Japan entry.

Daniel Amos, John's son, became CEO in 1990 and added the chairman role in 2001, giving the company the longest CEO tenure in the Fortune 500 for most of his reign. Under his leadership Aflac formalized its U.S. worksite distribution through independent agents and brokers and launched the Aflac Duck campaign in 1999, which tripled brand recognition within a few years.

The modern structure took shape through subsidiary additions: Continental American Insurance Company, acquired in 2009 and rebranded as Aflac Group Insurance for group benefits; Aflac New York, the required separate New York entity; Tier One Insurance Company; and Aflac Benefits Solutions for dental and vision. Fiscal 2025 produced total revenues of $17.2 billion, adjusted earnings of $7.49 per diluted share, and a 16% sales increase in Japan driven by the new Miraito cancer insurance product.

Aflac publishes annual sustainability reporting covering governance, workforce, and community investment. Its flagship social program is long-running support for childhood cancer research and treatment through the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, to which it has contributed more than $170 million over the decades. The company reports emissions and operational targets and has issued sustainability-linked financing.

Aflac has appeared on Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies list in the life and health insurance category for over two decades, on Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies list for more than a dozen consecutive years, and on Forbes' lists of best employers. These third-party recognitions are among the longest-running streaks of any U.S. insurer.

Aflac's regulatory record is comparatively clean for a large insurer. Notable episodes include a 2010 Japan Post Holdings distribution fine levied against an affiliate, periodic state market conduct examinations common to the sector, and criticism in past decades over the marketing of cancer policies, a product critics argued could overlap with comprehensive coverage. The company faced the standard supplemental-insurance scrutiny over claims denial rates but has avoided major enforcement actions or brand-level scandals.