Aflac will promote Shinsuke Morimoto, currently deputy president of Aflac Japan, to president and representative director of the Japanese subsidiary on Jan. 1, 2027. The company announcement, A.M. Best and (Re)in Asia all describe the appointment as part of a wider leadership succession plan. Morimoto will oversee Aflac Japan’s business execution and join the board of managers of Aflac Holdings LLC, the holding company that oversees the subsidiary.
Morimoto’s promotion is one piece of a broader change across Aflac’s Japan and U.S. businesses. Masatoshi Koide, the current president and representative director of Aflac Japan, will become its chairman and representative director. Charles D. Lake II, who currently chairs the Japan operation, will move to an executive adviser role and become chairman of Aflac International. These changes preserve leadership continuity while assigning different responsibilities across the group’s Japanese and international operations, according to Aflac Investor Relations.
The U.S. business is part of the same January transition. Frederic J. Simard, currently deputy president of Aflac U.S., will become its president, responsible for strategy, distribution and operations. Aflac said Simard joined the U.S. unit in 2023 as senior vice president and CFO after more than 30 years in insurance. He became chief operating officer in 2025 and deputy president earlier in 2026. The company has therefore named successors for both country operations rather than treating Morimoto’s appointment as a stand-alone change.
Aflac says the plan is the result of long-term succession planning coordinated by its board. Chairman and CEO Daniel Amos described it as a deliberate effort to place the right leaders in the right roles at the right time. The company also cited Morimoto’s nearly four decades of leadership experience across claims, sales, corporate planning and strategy, including work on its mid-term plan and marketing and sales organization. Those are the stated reasons for his selection; the announcement does not introduce a new strategy document or additional operating targets.
The effective date is firm: all of the listed transitions begin Jan. 1, 2027. Readers tracking insurance leadership can compare this structure with Encafeinados’ recent report on Global Indemnity appointing Jessica Buss CEO. The appointments are separate, but both make a consequential insurance leadership handoff visible well before a new executive begins.
