AM Best Assigns Indicative Issue Credit Ratings to Aflac Inc.’s New Shelf Registration

AM Best has assigned indicative Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of “a-” (Excellent) to senior unsecured issues and “bbb+” (Good) to subordinated issues of the recently filed shelf registration of Aflac Incorporated (Aflac) (headquartered in Columbus, GA) [NYSE: AFL]. The outlook of the Credit Ratings (ratings) is positive. Concurrently, AM Best has withdrawn the ratings on the previous shelf registration. All other ratings of Aflac and its insurance subsidiaries are unchanged.

The positive outlook is a reflection of the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating outlook of positive on Aflac’s life/health subsidiaries, recently assessed by AM Best on June 16, 2021 (see related press release). More specifically, the positive outlook is attributed to Aflac’s continued refinement of its risk management practices to ensure its capital preservation and operational performance in its primary markets of Japan and the United States during the prolonged period of the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected each market’s population. Aflac issues debt opportunistically when market conditions are favorable and its debt maturities are well-laddered. Aflac’s next debt maturity is in 2024. Unadjusted financial leverage, as calculated by AM Best, was at 24.0% and earnings before income and taxes (EBIT) interest coverage at approximately 22 times earnings through June 30, 2021.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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