Aaron Seurkamp to lead unified division as SVP, President, Protection & Retirement Division

Jim Wagner expands role as SVP, Chief Distribution Officer for both protection and retirement products

Kenneth Byrd expands role as SVP, Operations for the division

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Protective Life Corporation (Protective), a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (Dai-ichi, TSE:8750), announced today that it has unified its Protection and Retirement Divisions, effective Sept. 10. Aaron Seurkamp will lead the unified division as SVP, President, Protection & Retirement Division, while Jim Wagner takes on expanded role as SVP, Chief Distribution Officer for both Protection and Retirement products. In addition, Kenneth Byrd will now serve as SVP, Operations, Protection & Retirement Division, expanding his role to include operations for both product lines, as well as underwriting.

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As Protective continues its business transformation, unifying these divisions will enable the company to better serve customers and distributors, capitalize on cross-divisional opportunities, prioritize and align resources, and streamline operations “ all with a focus on enabling growth. The newly combined division will continue its focus on helping people achieve financial security through both protection-focused insurance products and the products that protect and grow retirement assets, guaranteed income and efficient wealth transfer.

Bringing these businesses together as one operating unit will enable us to more effectively create scale while also improving focus in our product and distribution strategy, said Wade Harrison, EVP and Chief Retail Officer for Protective. Aaron is a strong, results-oriented leader with a deep understanding of the life and annuity industry and a clear vision for how Protective can continue growing and protecting more customers in these businesses.

Throughout his 20-year career with Protective, Seurkamp has worked in various positions throughout the company’s retail life and annuity business, most recently serving as SVP, President of the Retirement Division. In this role, he led all aspects of the division, including product development, sales and operations. Moving forward, he’ll expand these responsibilities across the combined division. Seurkamp will continue to report to Harrison.

Wagner, who joined Protective in 2011, most recently served as SVP, Chief Distribution Officer for Protective’s Retirement Division. With previous roles leading external and internal sales teams for both protection and retirement, Wagner brings a wealth of experience that will serve him well as he leads the distribution strategy for the unified division.

Byrd, who joined Protective in 2009, most recently served as SVP, Operations, primarily focused on the Protection Division. Throughout his career with Protective, Byrd has worked in numerous operations roles, building extensive experience and expertise in customer experience, process improvement and automation, making him well positioned to lead this critical team. Both Byrd and Wagner will report to Seurkamp.

As Protective continues its transformation, launched in November 2023 to drive growth, the company will invest in new business opportunities, enhance foundational capabilities, and advance a more efficient and effective company. This work is already leading to improved operating processes to compete in the markets of today and the future.

About Protective

Protective has helped people achieve protection and security in their lives for 117 years. Through its subsidiaries, Protective offers life insurance, annuity and asset protection solutions and is helping more than 14.4 million people protect what matters most. Protective’s more than 3,800 employees put people first and deliver on the company’s promises to customers, partners, colleagues and communities – because we’re all protectors. With a long-term focus, financial stability and commitment to doing the right thing, Protective Life Corporation, a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., has $118 billion in assets, as of Dec. 31, 2023. Protective is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and supported by a robust virtual workforce and core sites in the greater Cincinnati area and St. Louis. For more information about Protective, visit www.protective.com.

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Corporate Communications
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Source: Protective Life Corporation

By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) -Pop megastar Taylor Swift drew nearly 9 million “likes” to her Instagram post backing Vice President Kamala Harris for president from celebrities that included Jennifer Aniston, U.S. basketball star Caitlin Clark and Selena Gomez.

Soon after Harris, a Democrat, finished debating her Republican rival Donald Trump on Tuesday night, Swift, 34, told her 283 million followers that Harris and running mate Tim Walz would get her vote in the Nov. 5 election.

“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift posted. She called Harris a “steady-handed, gifted leader” who could lead the country with calm rather than chaos.

Supermodel Karlie Kloss, who is married to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s brother, liked the post.

Swift was pictured with her cat in the post, which she signed as “Childless Cat Lady” in a dig at Trump’s running mate JD (NASDAQ:) Vance, who in a 2021 interview called some Democrats “a bunch of childless cat ladies.” He has since said it was merely a sarcastic remark.

“Parks and Recreation” and “The White Lotus” actor Aubrey Plaza echoed Swift’s endorsement in her own Instagram post on Wednesday, where she held a cat alongside the caption “HARRIS WALZ” with an American flag emoji.

Trump supporter Elon Musk, who is chief executive of Tesla (NASDAQ:) and owns social media platform X, wrote on his platform, “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”

His message was branded “disgusting,” “misogynistic” and “creepy.”

Swift wrote that she was impressed by Walz, the Minnesota governor, and described him as someone “who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”

Walz, who was on MSNBC when the endorsement was announced, said he was “incredibly grateful” and urged the singer’s large fan base of “Swifties” to “Get things going.”

Shortly after Swift’s endorsement, the Harris-Walz campaign announced pre-orders for its latest campaign wear: Swift fan inspired friendship bracelets.

TRUMP DISMISSES ENDORSEMENT

Trump on Wednesday dismissed Swift’s endorsement of Harris, saying he “was not a Taylor fan”.

“It was just a question of time,” Trump told Fox News in an interview. “She’s a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat. And she’ll probably pay a price for it … in the marketplace.”

In August, Trump posted a fake social media image of Swift asking people to vote for him in the November election.

Swift referred to that in her Tuesday post, saying Trump had “really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”

She added: “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”

Opinion polls show the race essentially tied between the two candidates.

Harris, who supports abortion rights, has criticized Trump for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who in 2022 helped overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling ensuring a constitutional right to abortion.

Trump has defended the court’s abortion ruling but said a federal abortion ban is unnecessary and that the issue should be resolved at the state level.

Swift backed President Joe Biden in 2020. Many Hollywood actors, producers and filmmakers have said they view Harris, a former U.S. senator from California, as their hometown candidate.